# Virtual Assistant usage Understand the task and step activity behind automation reports and the limits of visitor-event timing evidence. *Release 3.3 ยท admin, developer, supervisor* ## What it is INSIDE records task and step activity while a Virtual Assistant journey runs. These records support automation reporting and investigation of incomplete or unexpected journeys. Visitor-event cooldown evidence is separate and records recent event timing rather than a full history of every exposure. ## Who uses it and why - Supervisors use automation reports to review task progress and outcomes. - Administrators compare an unexpected journey with conversation history before requesting help. - Developers work with Powerfront to distinguish task progress from the result of an external business action. ## Where to find it There is no standalone Settings editor for these execution records or their persistence controls. Use automation reporting and the relevant conversation history as the visible starting points. Ask Powerfront to investigate the underlying activity when those views do not explain an outcome. ## How it works Task activity links a run to its task, website and conversation. It records the operator where applicable, bot participation, start and end times, status and handling time. Step activity identifies the step within that run, its start and end times, an associated response message and the continuation taken. Selected picklist answers can be associated with the step. Status changes include starting, pausing, resuming and terminal outcomes such as success, failure or cancellation. Reporting uses this activity to reconstruct visitor journeys. Task completion, a visitor answer and the success of an external business action are separate facts. Compare the activity with the actual conversation and any relevant integration result. Visitor-event timing is saved in batches. Repeated timing updates for the same visitor and event can replace an earlier pending update. This supports latest-event and cooldown checks; it does not provide one permanent entry for every event occurrence. ## Configure it Task execution records are created as part of normal automation. There are no record-editor fields for clients to fill in. Powerfront can change the visitor-event batching configuration. Its defaults are five seconds or 10,000 distinct queued entries before a batch is written. The allowed ranges are 1 to 60 seconds and 100 to 100,000 entries. These controls govern persistence batches, not when a visitor sees a message or when a task step runs. When asking Powerfront to investigate, provide the conversation reference, task, approximate time and time zone, expected result and observed result. Explain whether the question concerns task progress, message delivery, an external action or event cooldown. ## Limits and good to know - Usage records and the conversation transcript serve different purposes. Neither should be substituted for the other without checking what the report counts. - A missing end time does not establish successful completion. - A recorded task success does not prove that a third-party service completed the requested business operation. - Recent visitor-event evidence may still be awaiting a batch write. Repeated pending entries can be combined. - A normal shutdown attempts to save pending batches. This does not establish guaranteed preservation after an abrupt interruption. - Task configuration history and operator configuration activity are separate evidence from a visitor's execution history. ## Depends on and works with ### This feature uses - **Requires** [Virtual Assistant task steps and branches](ENG-011.md): Running tasks create and update task and step activity. - **Works better with** [Virtual Assistant task data fields](ENG-012.md): Field responses and selected picklist options contribute to recorded step activity. - **Works better with** [Virtual Assistant task pauses and handover](ENG-015.md): Pause, resume, cancellation and handover affect the recorded task outcome. - **Works better with** [Visitor event rules and actions](ENG-001.md): Visitor events add cooldown timing evidence separately from task and step activity. - **Related** [Event, link and Virtual Assistant reports](REP-013.md): Automation reports use recorded task and step activity to reconstruct journeys and outcomes. - **Related** [Conversation history and search](CHAT-024.md): Conversation history helps check what was sent and answered during a recorded task. ## FAQ and troubleshooting **Why does a task count differ from a message count?** A task run contains step activity and may send several messages or finish without a visitor answer. Use the definition of the selected report metric. **Can the event timing evidence count every popup or invitation?** No. Pending updates for a visitor and event can be combined. Use the report designed for the required measure. **Why is a recent event absent from saved evidence?** Ask Powerfront to check whether its batch has been written and whether a later update replaced the pending timestamp. Do not infer that the action did not happen from this evidence alone. **Does a successful task prove the customer issue was resolved?** No. Check the recorded journey, conversation and relevant business result. Task success describes automation progress. **How long are these records kept?** Confirm the applicable retention arrangement before promising a historical investigation. This feature does not establish one retention period for every record type.