Documentation · Pages
Work
Everything your agents do on your site in one page: ideas waiting for your OK, pull requests to merge or prompts to paste, what's being worked on and what's done, with who approved each one.
Open Work from the sidebar, or go to app.ivyl.ink/work. Your agents only start work you approve, unless you've told them to start their own ideas. Everything they're doing shows here, from the idea to the shipped change, along with who approved it and when.
Work used to be three pages: Approvals, Results and Decisions. Their old addresses, and links to them in older emails, open Work.
What's on the page
From top to bottom:
- Your site's address, the heading Work, and a line saying how approved work reaches you: as pull requests on your repository, or as prompts you paste into the tool you build your site with.
- After you click a button, a notice confirming what happened.
- Without pull requests, a notice saying why work arrives as prompts. See Two ways work reaches you.
- Needs attention: serious problems a daily check found that no idea covers yet. See Needs attention.
- Waiting for your OK: the ideas you can approve or drop, with your approval setting at the top. This section always shows.
- From your report: actions from your first report you haven't switched on yet.
- Ready for you: pull requests waiting for you to merge, and prompts waiting for you to paste.
- Merging: pull requests Ivy Link merges once their checks pass. Only on a site that gets pull requests.
- Being worked on: approved work your agents haven't finished yet, and ideas starting on their own.
- Done: shipped and measured work, up to 30 items.
- Dropped: ideas you dropped, newest first, folded until you open it.
Sections other than Waiting for your OK only show when they have something in them. The page lists up to 50 waiting ideas, 50 report actions and 20 dropped ideas.
Who approved it
Every approved card under Ready for you, Being worked on and Done says who approved it and when:
- You approved and the date: you clicked Approve here, on the Site map or on your report.
- Approved automatically and the date: new ideas are set to Start without asking, so your agents started it on their own.
With Start without asking, an idea your agents just found shows under Being worked on with the pill Starting on its own until they pick it up, usually within minutes. Click Drop on it if you don't want it. Waiting for your OK then says Nothing is waiting: your agents start their own ideas without asking., how many ideas started on their own in the last 30 days, and links to Being worked on and Done, where you find them.
Needs attention
When a daily check finds a serious problem that no idea covers yet, it shows here with one of A data check needs attention, A site check needs attention, A search change needs review or A scheduled check needs review, and the date it was found. Your agents look at it next and add the work it needs to Waiting for your OK, or start it on their own with Start without asking. You don't need to do anything. Up to five show.
For a dataset, A data check needs attention means, for example, that the latest run is older than yesterday, that publishing new data failed, or that with Data updates set to Automatic new data hasn't gone live for two days or more. See Data.
What an idea card shows
Each idea under Waiting for your OK is a card with:
- A title saying what the agents want to do.
- A pill reading Waiting for your OK.
- The why: a short explanation of what the change is for, when the agent gave one.
- A "Because" line: the evidence behind the idea, such as what an agent saw on your site or in your search data. It shows when there is evidence on record.
- Two buttons: Approve and Drop.
On an Enterprise site, a card can also carry a badge: Checked by your SEO expert or From your SEO expert. See Enterprise: ideas your SEO expert checks.
Ideas are listed most important first. Ideas of the same importance are listed oldest first.
Approve or drop an idea
- Read the idea's why and its Because line.
- Click Approve to start the work, or Drop to have your agents leave it.
- A notice at the top of the page confirms what happened.
| You click | What happens | Notice |
|---|---|---|
| Approve | The idea moves to Being worked on, where you follow the work. | Approved. Follow it under Being worked on. |
| Drop | Agents leave the idea. It moves to Dropped on this page. | Dropped. Your agents will leave it. It stays under Dropped on Work if you change your mind. |
What happens after you approve depends on your site access. With GitHub connected and access set to Pull requests or Pull requests, merged for you, the agents open a pull request. With Prompts only, or without GitHub, they write a prompt for you to paste into the tool you build your site with. See Approve work and Ship changes.
Changed your mind about an approval? Use Move back or Drop on the item under Being worked on. Move back returns it to Waiting for your OK with the notice Moved back to waiting for your OK. These buttons are there only until an agent starts on it. After that the card says Your agents are working on it. and the work stays approved.
From your report
Your first report comes with a list of actions. How this section looks depends on whether you've picked any yet.
- Before your first pick: the section says Your report’s actions are waiting for your OK. with a link, Pick the ones to start on your report. You choose them on the Report page.
- After that: report actions you haven't switched on show as cards, each with Approve and Drop. Approving one here is the same switch as on your report.
Report actions behave a little differently from other ideas:
- They always wait for you, even when new ideas are set to Start without asking.
- They never expire.
- A dropped report action doesn't appear under Dropped on this page. Switch it back on from your report.
Dropped ideas
The Dropped section lists ideas that were dropped, newest first, up to 20. It starts folded: click the line under the heading to open it. Each card shows the title, a Dropped pill, the why, and two buttons:
| You click | What happens | Notice |
|---|---|---|
| Approve | The idea is approved now and moves to Being worked on. | Approved. Follow it under Being worked on. |
| Send back (with Ask me first) | The idea goes back to Waiting for your OK. | Sent back. It’s waiting for your OK again. |
| Send back (with Start without asking) | Your agents start on it on their own. | Sent back. Your agents start on it on their own, because new ideas start without asking. It’s under Being worked on. |
Ideas that expire
An idea that sits in Waiting for your OK for 14 days with no changes or new evidence is dropped automatically. It moves to Dropped, where you can send it back or approve it.
The 15-idea limit
A site can have up to 15 ideas waiting at once. Report actions don't count toward this. If 15 are already waiting, sending a dropped idea back (or moving an approval back) doesn't save, and you see That didn’t save. Reload and try again. Approve or drop a waiting idea first, then try again.
Choose who starts new ideas
The notice near the top shows your current setting. Click Change to go to the Connections tab of Settings. In the New ideas box, pick Ask me first or Start without asking, then click Save new ideas.
| Setting | What it means | Notice on Work |
|---|---|---|
| Ask me first | Each idea waits until you approve it. | Each one waits here for you. |
| Start without asking | Agents start their own ideas on their own: fixes, page changes, new pages and data updates. They only spend within your budget. You can still pause or drop any of them. | Agents start their own ideas. |
With Start without asking, your report's actions still wait for you. So does an idea you moved back, or one whose pull request was closed without merging. It waits for your OK instead of starting again.
Enterprise: ideas your SEO expert checks
On an Enterprise site, an SEO expert at Ivy Link checks your agents' ideas before they reach you.
- While the expert is checking, ideas don't appear on Work. Instead you see a notice: Your SEO expert is checking 1 new idea. It shows up here once checked. or Your SEO expert is checking N new ideas. They show up here once checked.
- Ideas waiting for the expert never expire.
- Once checked, an idea shows under Waiting for your OK with a badge:
- Checked by your SEO expert: an agent's idea the expert reviewed.
- From your SEO expert: an idea the expert wrote.
- Your own ideas and your report's actions don't wait for the expert.
- If you act on an idea the expert hasn't finished with, you'll see Your SEO expert is still checking that idea. It shows up here once they have.
- When you send back a dropped agent idea, it goes to the expert again: Sent back. Your SEO expert checks it first, then it waits here for your OK. Moving an approval back works the same way: Moved back. Your SEO expert checks it first, then it waits here for your OK.
Ideas the expert drops never reach you, so they don't show under Dropped.
Two ways work reaches you
Work works in one of two modes. Which one you see depends on your GitHub connection and your How finished work reaches your site setting in Settings.
| Pull requests | Prompts | |
|---|---|---|
| When | GitHub is connected and finished work is set to Pull requests or Pull requests, merged for you | GitHub isn't connected, or finished work is set to Prompts only |
| Line under the heading | "Approved work arrives as pull requests on your repository." | "Approved work arrives as prompts you paste into the tool you build your site with." |
| What you do | Review and merge each change, on GitHub or with Merge here | Copy each prompt into your site builder, make the change, then click I made this change |
Pull requests is the default once GitHub is connected. See Connect GitHub and Ship changes.
When GitHub isn't connected
In prompts mode, a notice at the top tells you why and how to change it:
- GitHub not connected: "Connect GitHub and Ivy Link opens these changes as pull requests for you." Click Connect GitHub to go to Settings, Connections.
- GitHub connected, but set to prompts only: "Finished work arrives as prompts because your site is set to prompts only." Click Change it to pick Pull requests instead.
Nothing is lost while you're on prompts. Your approved work still arrives, as prompts.
Pull request cards
Each open pull request is a card with:
- The title of the change.
- A state pill (see the table below).
- The why: what the change is for. A data update says "The latest data for your pages, updated each day. Merge it when you want the new numbers live."
- A note, when Ivy Link left one explaining why the change is waiting for you.
- Pull request #N · N files (or data files for a data update).
- Buttons: Merge (when Ivy Link may merge it), Review on GitHub, and See the change (for site fixes, not data updates).
| Pill | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Waiting for your review | A fix your agents opened, ready for you | Review it, then click Merge or merge it on GitHub |
| New data to merge | The daily data update for your pages | Merge it when you want the new numbers live |
| Waiting for you | Ivy Link left a note on it | Read the note, then sort it out on GitHub or merge |
| Merging once checks pass | Under Merging; Ivy Link merges it for you | Nothing. Close it on GitHub if you don't want it |
If Merge isn't offered, the card says "Merge it on GitHub. To merge here, let Ivy Link open pull requests." The link takes you to the setting.
Merge a pull request from Work
- Find the pull request under Ready for you.
- If you want, click Review on GitHub or See the change first.
- Click Merge.
Before it merges, Ivy Link checks again that the pull request hasn't changed, doesn't conflict with your main branch, and that every check on it passed. If a pull request has no checks at all, Ivy Link won't merge it here; merge it on GitHub instead.
When it works you see: "Merged. Your site goes live with it on its next build." The card leaves the page.
When it doesn't, the notice tells you why:
| Notice | What to do |
|---|---|
| "Its checks haven't all passed yet. Try again once they have, or merge it on GitHub." | Wait for the checks, then click Merge again |
| "It conflicts with newer changes on your main branch. Sort that out on GitHub, then merge it there." | Resolve the conflict on GitHub |
| "Your repo needs a review, or the change brought up to date, before it can merge. Merge it on GitHub." | Your repo's rules need a step only GitHub can do |
| "It changed since Ivy Link last checked it. Review it on GitHub." | Someone changed it; look at it on GitHub |
| "Ivy Link hasn't finished checking how this change looks on your site. Try again later, or merge it on GitHub." | Wait and try again, or merge on GitHub |
| "That pull request isn't open anymore, or Ivy Link can't reach your repo." | Check it on GitHub and your connection in Settings |
| "Ivy Link can't merge it while your site is set to prompts only or GitHub isn't connected. Merge it on GitHub, or change that in Settings, Connections." | Merge on GitHub, or change the setting |
| "GitHub didn't merge it. Try again in a minute, or merge it on GitHub." | Try again shortly |
You can always merge on GitHub instead. Ivy Link notices either way.
A merged pull request doesn't ship instantly. Your site goes live with the change on its next build. A change only counts as shipped once Ivy Link confirms it on your live site.
Merging
With Pull requests, merged for you, the section reads: "Ivy Link merges these once every check on them passes, because your site is set to pull requests merged for you." Each merged change stays on GitHub, so you can revert it there.
Ivy Link leaves a pull request for you instead, with a note saying why, when:
- it conflicts with your main branch,
- your repo requires a review or a required check before it can merge,
- its checks haven't passed within an hour,
- its build checks are missing, unfinished or unsuccessful,
- your repo requires it to be up to date with your main branch first,
- someone added commits to it,
- the branch it merges into changed,
- GitHub wouldn't let Ivy Link merge it, or
- your access setting or GitHub connection changed.
Those move to Ready for you with the Waiting for you pill.
A change that touches a page (a template, stylesheet or page file) merges like any other, with one more step. Ivy Link takes screenshots of that page on your live site, on a computer and on a phone, shortly before it merges the change. Once the change is live (or 30 minutes after the merge, if nothing on GitHub shows when your site deploys), it takes them again and compares the two. If the page stops loading, comes up nearly empty, loses its heading and main content, or loses most of its layout, Ivy Link looks again a few minutes later to be sure, then opens a pull request that undoes the change, titled Undo: and the change's title, and merges it once its checks pass. It tells you on the Agents page and by email. A page that only looks different is fine, so a change you meant to make stays. If the screenshots can't be taken or compared (for example, your site doesn't answer or turns the browser away, your agent budget has no room, Ivy Link's screenshot service is down, or the checks on your main branch failed or didn't finish after the merge), the change stays merged and Ivy Link says it couldn't check it. It never undoes a change it couldn't check. The screenshots are paid from your agent budget, like other checks. A pull request that undoes a change shows under Merging until it merges.
Each page change also gets a design check. Before it merges, the check reads the change itself together with screenshots of the page on your live site as it is now, on a computer and on a phone (the whole page, and close-ups of the part the change touches when Ivy Link can find it). Screenshots with the change in them come once it's live, or from a preview build when your host makes one. It asks four things: does it do what it was for, does it fit your site's design, does it repeat something the page already shows, and does anything look broken. It says Looks right, Needs changes or Doesn’t fit the page, and posts what it found on the pull request. When it asks for changes, Ivy Link's builder revises the same pull request with that feedback, up to two times, and the check runs again. If it still asks for changes, or it says the change doesn't fit the page at all, the pull request waits for you with a note saying why, and you can still merge it yourself. Under Pull requests, the check is information for you: the builder still revises the pull request, and you decide when to merge. Under Pull requests, merged for you, the check runs again once the change is live: a change that doesn't fit is undone like a broken page, and one that needs small changes gets a follow-up pull request. If the check can't run (there are no screenshots, it doesn't answer after a few tries, or your agent budget has no room), Ivy Link says so, and under Pull requests, merged for you the pull request waits for you instead of merging unchecked. Each check is paid from your agent budget, like other checks.
You can also ask for changes yourself: comment on one of Ivy Link's open pull requests, in the conversation, on a line of the diff, or in a review. Ivy Link reads new comments every few minutes, and its builder pushes an update to the same pull request that answers them, then replies there saying what it changed, or why it left something as it is. Only comments from people who can write to the repo count; comments from bots, from Ivy Link itself and from anyone else are ignored, and each comment is answered once. A pull request gets up to three updates from comments; after that, Ivy Link says so on the pull request and newer comments are yours to make. The update goes through your repo's checks and the design check again, and under Pull requests, merged for you it merges only once the new commit's checks pass (a change waiting for you because of an earlier stop merges again after the update, unless you stopped it yourself). While a comment waits for the builder, the pull request doesn't merge; if an update fails, the builder tries again in its next update. Under Pull requests, merged for you, the pull request waits for you instead of merging when the builder answers a comment without changing anything, when a comment comes after its three updates, or when someone else pushed to its branch (the builder never pushes over someone else's commit). Comments on merged or closed pull requests are ignored. Each update is paid from your agent budget, like other builder work.
See the change
See the change, on a pull request that fixes your site, opens its change preview: a page for that one pull request. Its address is app.ivyl.ink/work/changes/ followed by the change's ID.
What's on the page
- A ← Work link back to Work.
- Your site's address followed by Site change.
- The pull request's title as the heading, with the line See how the proposed page looks on desktop and mobile.
- A status pill. Today it reads Preview unavailable. See Preview states.
- An Open pull request button. It opens in a new tab.
- The Publishing: line: Automatic (Ivy Link merges it once every check passes), Your review (it waits for you), Paused (Ivy Link won't merge it on its own), Merged or Closed. It's left out when Ivy Link can't tell how the change will publish.
- For a page change, a section headed Design check: what the check found before the merge (Before it merges: with Looks right, Needs changes or Doesn’t fit the page), and once the change is live (On your live site:), with a plain summary and, when it asked for changes, What to change:. See Ship changes.
- When Ivy Link merged a page change itself, a section headed On your live site: and what it found (Live page looks fine, Page looked broken or Couldn’t check the live page; Checking the live page or Waiting for it to go live while it works), a sentence saying what happened, and the before and after screenshots of each page on a computer and on a phone: close-ups of where the change is under Where it changed, and the whole page under Whole page. See Ship changes.
- A panel that reads Preview unavailable and Saved screenshots are not available for this change., with the reason Ivy Link doesn’t take screenshots of a change before it merges. Open the pull request on GitHub to check its preview build. With pull requests merged for you, Ivy Link checks the page on your live site once the change goes live. Once there are screenshots from your live site, the panel says instead: No screenshots of a preview build were taken before it merged. The screenshots above are from your live site.
Preview states
| Pill | What you see | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Preview unavailable (the normal state) | Saved screenshots are not available for this change. with the reason Ivy Link doesn’t take screenshots of a change before it merges. Open the pull request on GitHub to check its preview build. With pull requests merged for you, Ivy Link checks the page on your live site once the change goes live. | Click Open pull request and use your host's preview build to see the change. |
| New screenshots needed (rare) | The change has a newer version. Earlier screenshots are hidden until the new version is checked. | Open the pull request. |
There are no preview screenshots to wait for. Ivy Link doesn't take screenshots of a change before it merges; under Pull requests, merged for you it checks the page on your live site once the change is live.
If the change doesn't belong to your site, you see a page titled Preview unavailable with This change is not available for this site. If the preview can't load for another reason, the same page says The current preview is not available. Try again in a moment.
Reviewing a change
- Click Open pull request to read the change on GitHub.
- Check how it looks in your host's preview build, linked from the pull request.
- To publish it, merge it on GitHub or with Merge on Work. See Ship changes.
When Ivy Link merges for you, it waits until every check on the pull request has passed. A merged pull request goes live once your site rebuilds.
You also reach a change preview from Notes: View change: followed by the change's title, on the run that made it.
Prompt cards
In prompts mode, each change comes as a prompt you paste into whatever you build your site with.
A prompt card shows the title, a status pill, the why, a Because line with the evidence when there is some, and:
- Done when: what the finished change looks like, when the prompt doesn't already say it.
- Copy prompt: copies the whole prompt.
- I made this change: tells Ivy Link you've done it.
- Show the prompt: opens the full prompt to read.
Use a prompt
- Under Ready for you, click Copy prompt (or Show the prompt to read it first).
- Paste it into the tool you build your site with and make the change.
- Publish your site as usual.
- Click I made this change. You see: "Marked done. Ivy Link checks the change on your site and measures what it does."
The card moves to Done as Shipped. While a prompt is still being written, the card says "Its prompt is being written."
Being worked on
Approved work that hasn't reached you yet sits under Being worked on. In prompts mode, the card says "Its prompt is being written." With pull requests, the card says what it's waiting for:
| Card text | What it means |
|---|---|
| "Queued for the builder." | It's in line for an agent |
| A wait reason | Something is holding it, such as your balance |
| "Agents are off. Pick a plan in Settings and the builder starts on it." | Turn your agents on in Settings |
| "Your agents are working on it." | An agent has started |
| "Your agent stopped without making a change. Its notes say what it found and what it needs. Move it back and approve it again to have it try again." | The agent looked and stopped safely; read its notes on Agents |
| "Your agent's attempt failed. Move it back and approve it again to retry." | The attempt didn't finish |
An approved data item starts on its own. The data agent picks the public pages to collect from, and Ivy Link stores a sample of each. The Ivy Link team reviews how each page is read before collection starts. Then the data refreshes on a schedule, and the page and tool built from it come to you like any other new page.
A data item's card says where its collection stands:
| Card text | What it means |
|---|---|
| "Collection can't start yet. To start it:" and a list | Your site needs a change first: a connected GitHub repository, Full access, automatic data updates, or agents on. Each item links to the setting |
| "Starting soon: the data agent picks it up shortly." | Nothing to do |
| "The data agent is choosing the public pages to collect from." and the steps after it | It's on its way; nothing to do |
| "The last try didn't finish, so it's tried again later." | A source didn't answer. Ivy Link waits longer after each try |
| "Collection is on hold." and a reason | It stopped, for the reason shown. It waits until the Ivy Link team fixes it. Data already stored is kept |
A day a source doesn't answer adds nothing and removes nothing: the data you already have stays. If a source keeps failing, the card names it, and the rest of the data still refreshes.
With pull requests, agents make one attempt per approval. To have them try again, click Move back, then approve it again.
Take back an approval
Until an agent starts, an approved card has two buttons:
- Move back: returns it to Waiting for your OK. Notice: "Moved back to waiting for your OK."
- Drop: your agents leave it. It stays under Dropped.
Once an agent starts, the buttons go away. If the work is in line for an agent, the card says "Your agents are working on it." If you press a button on a page that's out of date, you see "Your agents have already started on it, so it stays approved."
Status pills
| Pill | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Approved | You approved it, or it started on its own under Start without asking; not started or not finished yet |
| In progress | Your agents are building it |
| Shipped | Live on your site: confirmed after a merge, or you clicked I made this change |
| Measured | Your agents have measured what it did |
A work card with a pull request shows a link like Pull request #12 · Open, Merged or Closed. If a pull request is closed without merging, the work goes back to where it was before: Approved, or Waiting for your OK.
How shipped work is measured
When a shipped change came from a problem with a search or a page, Pip measures it twice: 7 days and 28 days after it shipped. Each measurement compares that search or page with how it was when the change shipped. For a search, it uses clicks and average position over the last 7 days of Search Console data. You see the results in Done lately on Home and in the feed on Agents. A search line looks like this (example numbers):
"running shoes", 7 days after the fix: 42 clicks a week, from 30 (+40%), position 8.2 → 6.9. Recovered.
For a page fix, the line says whether the checks still see a problem on that page, for example "the checks see no problem."
| Verdict | When |
|---|---|
| Recovered | Clicks up 10% or more, or position up by 1 or more. For a page fix: the checks see no problem |
| Regressed | Clicks down 10% or more, or position down by 1 or more. For a page fix: the checks still see a problem |
| Too early to call | For a search at day 7, when the change is smaller than that. At day 28, Pip calls it by the direction it moved |
Home says it plainly: while agents are off, Pip still measures the work that shipped.
These are before-and-after observations. They don't prove the change caused the difference, and Ivy Link doesn't guarantee rankings.
Empty states and messages
| What you see | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Nothing is waiting. New ideas from your agents show up here. | No ideas need your OK right now. | Nothing. New ideas appear as agents find them. If your agents are off, turn them on. |
| Nothing is waiting: your agents start their own ideas without asking. | New ideas are set to Start without asking. | Nothing. Find what they started under Being worked on and Done, marked Approved automatically. |
| No Dropped section | Nothing has been dropped. | Nothing. |
| Nothing is approved yet. Approve an idea above and its work shows up here. | Nothing is approved, and no pull requests are open. | Approve an idea under Waiting for your OK. |
| No From your report section | Every report action is already switched on or dropped, or there aren't any. | Nothing. |
| Add a site first. | Your account has no site yet. | Add one at app.ivyl.ink/sites/new (account owner only). See Add a site. |
| That didn’t save. Reload and try again. | The page was out of date, for example the idea changed in another tab. Nothing changed. | Reload the page and try again. |
Who can act here
Only the account owner can merge, mark work done, move it back or drop it.
Related
- Approve work: how approvals fit into the whole flow.
- Ship changes: the full path from idea to live change, and how site access decides who merges.
- Connect GitHub: get pull requests instead of prompts.
- Home: the Needs you list links here when something waits for you.
- Weekly reports: a weekly record of merged work and search data.
Questions? Email hello@ivyl.ink.
Last updated
Something here not match what you see? Email hello@ivyl.ink and we'll fix the page.