# The Coordinator

> The Coordinator is the agent that runs your jobs once they're assigned. It follows a set of rules, one for each stage of a job, written in plain language. You don't fill in forms to change them. You tell Atom what you want, and it rewrites the rules for you.

**Find it in:** Agent Configuration › Coordinator

*From the Facilio Work Coordination Guide — https://facilio.com/help/work-coordination-guide/coordinator/*

---

## How the Coordinator works

When a job is assigned to a technician or vendor, the Coordinator takes it from there. It sends the job out, waits for a reply, chases the vendor if they go quiet, moves the job along as they answer, asks for proof of the work, and checks the invoice. What it does at each step comes from your rules.

The rules are split into **stages of a job**. Each stage is one moment in the job's life, and says what the Coordinator does then. For example, Northpoint FM's rules have these five stages:

| Stage | What the rules cover |
| --- | --- |
| **When a job is assigned** | How the job is sent to the vendor, and what to do if that channel doesn't work |
| **When they go quiet** | How long to wait for a reply, how to chase, and who to tell if the vendor still doesn't answer |
| **When they're on site** | When to move the job to **In progress** |
| **When the work is done** | What proof to ask for, by when, and when to mark the job **Completed** |
| **When the invoice comes in** | Which quotes need sign-off, from whom, and when to close the job |

Your stages may be named differently, or there may be more or fewer of them, depending on your business and what you tell Atom.

## The Coordinator page

Open **Coordinator** under **Agent Configuration** in the menu.

![The Rules For Every Job: one tile for each stage of a job.](https://facilio.com/help/work-coordination-guide/screens/coordinator.webp)
*Fig. 1 — **The Rules For Every *Job***: one tile for each stage of a job.*

Each tile shows the stage's name and the first line of what the Coordinator does. The small icons on the left show what the stage depends on: a channel such as email or a call, a time, a person or an amount. **+1 rule** on the right means the stage has extra rules for when things don't go to plan.

Click `Edit rules` to change them (see [Change the rules](https://facilio.com/help/work-coordination-guide/coordinator/#change-the-rules)).

### How to read all the rules for a stage

1. Click a stage's tile. Its rules open in a window.

![When they go quiet: what the Coordinator does, then what happens if the vendor still doesn't answer.](https://facilio.com/help/work-coordination-guide/screens/coordinator-moment.webp)
*Fig. 2 — **When they go quiet**: what the Coordinator does, then what happens if the vendor still doesn't answer.*

2. Read the window from top to bottom:
   - **What the Coordinator does**: the stage's main rule.
   - The extra rules, in the order the Coordinator works through them. Here they're headed **If they still don't answer**.
   - **Good to know**: anything worth spelling out that isn't a rule. This only shows when there is something.
3. The line under the title says how many extra rules the stage has, and whether every value in it is confirmed.
4. Click `Edit rules` to change this stage, or `Close`.

> The blue chips in a rule, such as **1 hour** or **Call**, are the values the Coordinator works with. Click one to change it (see [Change a value](https://facilio.com/help/work-coordination-guide/coordinator/#how-to-change-a-value-such-as-a-time-or-a-channel)).

## Change the rules

Click `Edit rules` on the Coordinator page. The editor opens with a conversation with Atom on the left and your rules on the right.

![The editor: Ask Atom on the left, Stages of a job on the right.](https://facilio.com/help/work-coordination-guide/screens/coordinator-edit.webp)
*Fig. 3 — The editor: **Ask Atom** on the left, **Stages of a job** on the right.*

### The top bar

The bar above the editor shows whether the rules are **Live** or a **Draft**, the version number and when they were last saved. There's no separate save or publish step: every change Atom makes is saved straight away, and the version number goes up by one. Click the arrow at the top left to go back to the Coordinator page.

To give the conversation more room, drag the edge between **Ask Atom** and **Stages of a job**. The editor remembers the width in this browser.

### Your rules, stage by stage

Each card on the right is one stage of a job. The grey panel holds what the Coordinator does. If the stage has extra rules, click `View rules` to unfold them, and `Hide rules` to fold them away.

![When they go quiet with its extra rule unfolded: Still nothing after 2 hours? Tell the coordinator.](https://facilio.com/help/work-coordination-guide/screens/zoom-moment-card.webp)
*Fig. 4 — **When they go quiet** with its extra rule unfolded: *Still nothing after 2 hours? Tell the coordinator.**

### How to change a rule by telling Atom

1. Click `Edit rules` on the Coordinator page.
2. In the box at the bottom left, write what you want, the way you'd explain it to a new coordinator. For example: *Send jobs by email first. If a vendor hasn't replied in an hour, call them.*

![Describe the change in your own words.](https://facilio.com/help/work-coordination-guide/screens/coordinator-typing.webp)
*Fig. 5 — Describe the change in your own words.*

3. Press Enter. Atom shows **Writing** while it works.
4. Atom replies, and the stages it changed light up on the right with an **Updated** badge. The top bar shows **Updated just now**.

![Atom rewrote When a job is assigned and When they go quiet. Both are marked Updated.](https://facilio.com/help/work-coordination-guide/screens/coordinator-updated.webp)
*Fig. 6 — Atom rewrote **When a job is assigned** and **When they go quiet**. Both are marked **Updated**.*

Under Atom's reply, a line such as **Rewrote 2 sections** shows how many stages changed. Click it to list them, and click a stage to jump to it.

![Atom's reply, and the two stages it changed.](https://facilio.com/help/work-coordination-guide/screens/zoom-change-receipt.webp)
*Fig. 7 — Atom's reply, and the two stages it changed.*

> Not right? Just tell Atom again, for example *"Actually, wait two hours before calling."* Each message is a new change, saved straight away.

### How to see what changed

1. After a change, click `What changed` at the top right of the editor.
2. **What changed** lists each stage Atom rewrote and how it now reads, with what you said that prompted it.

![What changed: the last change to the rules and what prompted it.](https://facilio.com/help/work-coordination-guide/screens/coordinator-what-changed.webp)
*Fig. 8 — **What changed**: the last change to the rules and what prompted it.*

> `What changed` covers changes made since you opened the editor. It isn't there when you first open the page.

### How to change a value, such as a time or a channel

1. Click the blue chip you want to change, for example **1 hour**.
2. Atom drafts the request in the box for you: *Change how long to wait for a reply from “1 hour” to*.

![Clicking 1 hour starts the message for you.](https://facilio.com/help/work-coordination-guide/screens/coordinator-chip-draft.webp)
*Fig. 9 — Clicking **1 hour** starts the message for you.*

3. Finish the sentence, for example *2 hours*, and press Enter.

Hover over a time, person or amount chip to see **Ask Atom to change this**. Channel chips show a card instead (see [Channels](https://facilio.com/help/work-coordination-guide/coordinator/#channels)).

### How to ask Atom about one rule

1. Click `View rules` on a stage to unfold its extra rules.
2. Click the rule. Hover over it first to see **Ask Atom about this rule**.
3. Atom drafts the start of a message about that rule in the box. Add your question or change, and press Enter.

### How to start from scratch

If no rules are written yet, the Coordinator page says **No rules yet** and shows `Edit rules`. In the editor, the right side says **Nothing is written yet**, and Atom asks **How do you coordinate a reactive job today?**

![Describe how your jobs run, or click one of the examples under Follow-ups to start from it.](https://facilio.com/help/work-coordination-guide/screens/coordinator-blank.webp)
*Fig. 10 — Describe how your jobs run, or click one of the examples under **Follow-ups** to start from it.*

1. Click one of the examples under **Follow-ups** to put it in the box, or write your own.
2. Edit it to match how your team works, and press Enter.
3. Keep going one stage at a time. Atom adds each stage on the right as you describe it.

> When Atom looks something up while making a change, such as your connected channels, a line such as **1 tool called** appears under its reply. Click it to see what it checked.

## Channels

A blue channel chip, such as **Email** or **Call**, names a channel the Coordinator uses. Rest the pointer on it to see which one.

![Email · Jobs mailbox: the address the Coordinator sends from, the address replies go to, and whether it's Active.](https://facilio.com/help/work-coordination-guide/screens/zoom-channel-card.webp)
*Fig. 11 — **Email · Jobs mailbox**: the address the Coordinator sends from, the address replies go to, and whether it's **Active**.*

| Channel | What the card shows |
| --- | --- |
| **Email** | **Sends from** and **Replies to** |
| **WhatsApp** | **Number** and **Display name** |
| **SMS** | **Sender** |
| **Call** | **Address**, the number it calls from |

If a rule names a channel you haven't connected, the card says so. Click `Connect Email` (or whichever channel it is) to go to the right page in [Settings](https://facilio.com/help/work-coordination-guide/settings/#channels-the-coordinator-sends-on), or `Use another channel` to ask Atom to switch.

## Answer Atom's questions

Sometimes Atom can't finish a rule without asking you, for example who should sign off large quotes. When that happens, the Coordinator page shows a yellow banner.

![2 questions still open: Atom can't finish the rules without them.](https://facilio.com/help/work-coordination-guide/screens/coordinator-questions.webp)
*Fig. 12 — **2 questions still open**: Atom can't finish the rules without them.*

![Each open question in a numbered list. Click one to answer it.](https://facilio.com/help/work-coordination-guide/screens/zoom-questions-banner.webp)
*Fig. 13 — Each open question in a numbered list. Click one to answer it.*

A value Atom had to guess is shown as an amber chip, and its stage has a **Needs input** badge.

If Atom has no questions left but some values are still guesses, the banner says how many, for example **2 values still to confirm**. Its button is `Confirm with Atom`, which opens the editor so you can confirm or change them.

### How to answer Atom's questions

1. Click `Answer now` on the Coordinator page, or click a question in the banner. The editor opens with Atom's questions in place of the message box.

![Atom has 2 questions, one at a time. The stage that needs the answer is marked Needs input.](https://facilio.com/help/work-coordination-guide/screens/coordinator-edit-questions.webp)
*Fig. 14 — **Atom has 2 questions**, one at a time. The stage that needs the answer is marked **Needs input**.*

2. Read the question and type your answer in **Type your answer…**.

![Use the arrows next to 1 of 2 to move between questions.](https://facilio.com/help/work-coordination-guide/screens/zoom-open-questions.webp)
*Fig. 15 — Use the arrows next to **1 of 2** to move between questions.*

3. Click `Send answer`, or press Enter. Atom updates the rules with your answer.
4. To come back to a question later, click `Skip`. Once you've skipped them all, the message box comes back, with `Answer now` above it to bring the questions back.

### How to see what Atom still needs

Rest the pointer on a **Needs input** badge. It lists each value Atom still needs from you, and what it's using for now.

![Atom needs 1 answer: Who signs off quotes, for now procurement lead.](https://facilio.com/help/work-coordination-guide/screens/coordinator-needs-input.webp)
*Fig. 16 — **Atom needs 1 answer**: *Who signs off quotes*, for now *procurement lead*.*

Click a row to start a message to Atom about it.