> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://opensre.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Background investigations

> Run investigations asynchronously in the interactive shell and receive RCA completion notifications.

OpenSRE's interactive shell supports a **session-local background mode** for
investigations.

When background mode is enabled:

* new investigations run asynchronously
* the shell stays free for more questions and follow-ups
* completed RCAs are tracked in-session
* email notifications can be sent on completion via the `smtp` integration

<Note>
  This first version is **session-local only**. If the REPL process exits,
  in-flight background jobs stop with it.
</Note>

***

## Commands

```text theme={null}
/background on
/background off
/background status
/background list
/background show <task_id>
/background use <task_id>
/background notify list
/background notify set email
```

### What they do

* `/background on` — enable async investigation launches
* `/background off` — return to normal foreground execution
* `/background list` — show tracked jobs
* `/background show <task_id>` — show the RCA summary for one job
* `/background use <task_id>` — promote a completed job into the active follow-up context
* `/background notify set email` — keep email as the completion channel in v1

***

## Typical flow

1. Start the interactive shell.
2. Enable background mode:

```text theme={null}
/background on
```

3. Start an investigation:

```text theme={null}
/investigate kubernetes-high-cpu
```

or paste a fresh alert in free text.

4. Keep using the shell while the RCA runs.
5. When it completes:
   * inspect it with `/background show <task_id>`
   * adopt it into active follow-up context with `/background use <task_id>`

***

## RCA summary contents

Completed background jobs store:

* root cause
* top analysis items
* recommended next steps
* internal stats:
  * tool call count
  * investigation loop count
  * validity score

***

## Email notifications

Email delivery is handled through the [`smtp`](/smtp) integration.

The notification email focuses on:

* **Root cause**
* **Top analysis**
* **What to do next**

plus a short internal stats section.

***

## Current v1 limits

* notification preferences are email-only in the current shipped path
* jobs are not persisted across REPL restarts
* completion does not automatically replace your active follow-up context
* you must run `/background use <task_id>` to promote a finished RCA