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

# Work items

> The individual pieces of work inside a feature.

Work items are the pieces a feature is built from. Iron Octopus splits each feature into work items when it plans it, then builds them one at a time and reviews each one before it counts as done.

## What a work item contains

* **What to build**, as part of the feature's plan.
* **A risk level**, which sets how closely Iron Octopus reviews it.
* **Review results**: anything review sent back, and the attempt it was approved on.

Work items come in a few types, such as building code, infrastructure work, planning, and fixing a bug.

## States

| State | What it means |
| - | - |
| Waiting | Planned, not started yet. |
| Running | Iron Octopus is working on it. |
| Waiting for review | Built, and being reviewed. |
| In rework | Review sent it back with issues to fix. |
| Done | Built, reviewed and approved. |
| Stuck | It failed or is blocked, even after automatic retries. |

## Where you see it

* On the feature's page, as its list of work items.
* As progress on your Home page, such as "3 of 7 work items done · 1 running · 1 in rework".
* Under **Caught in review** on Home, when review sent one back.
* Under **Needs you** on Home, if one is stuck or needs a person to review it.

## What you can do

* Open a work item to see what was built and what review found.
* [Ask why](https://docs.ironoctopus.ai/home/ask.md) a work item failed.
* [Retry one that's stuck](https://docs.ironoctopus.ai/fix/when-work-fails.md).


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