# Dispatch

To dispatch an objective, you hand it to MAIA's agent and answer what it asks along the way. The agent shows what it is doing, and it stops for you only when a choice would change the result, spend credits you have not agreed to, or remove data.

Updated: 2026-09-30. Source: https://maia-analytics.com/docs/using-maia/dispatch

## Start a run

In the web app:

1. Choose a county. A new project asks for it first.
2. Write the objective in the box. See [Define](https://maia-analytics.com/docs/using-maia/define).
3. Press **Find**. MAIA names its first action within a few seconds.

In an existing project, write in the project's chat instead.

To start from a skill, type `/` in the chat and choose it. MAIA runs the saved method on this project.

| Where | A new project | An existing project |
| --- | --- | --- |
| The web app | Choose a county, write the objective, press **Find** | Write in the project's chat |
| MCP | `create_project` with the county and the `request` | `send_message` with the project and the `message` |

Over MCP both calls return at once with a run id, and `get_run` reports on the run. Pass a skill's name as `skill` to start from one. See [Runs and approvals](https://maia-analytics.com/docs/mcp/runs-and-approvals).

## What MAIA shows while it works

While MAIA works, the chat names each action as it takes it, such as searching the web or creating a layer. While the box is empty, the send button is a stop button, and a card appears whenever MAIA needs you. When a run follows a skill, MAIA shows the skill's plan and marks each phase as it finishes.

![The skill's plan in the chat: a checklist headed Ten-site ESG solar shortlist 5/5 with five phases, each crossed out with a check mark, and View activity (29) below it.](https://maia-analytics.com/product-shots/docs/chat-plan@2x.png)

A skill's plan in the chat. Each phase is checked off as it finishes.

A run takes from under a minute to several minutes.

![The chat with View activity (29) expanded. A bulleted list of actions in MAIA's own words: screening the full county for large, named buildings on owner-occupied parcels; finding 32 owner-user candidates and narrowing to 18; adding checks for single tenancy, ESG obligations, and satellite roof quality; then verifying and inspecting all 18.](https://maia-analytics.com/product-shots/docs/chat-activity@2x.png)

What MAIA shows while it works: the plan, then each action in its own words.

## When MAIA stops for you

MAIA asks before it acts in three cases only:

- **Your answer would change what MAIA looks for**, even in the first result.
- **The next step would spend credits** you have not agreed to.
- **Whether to set rows aside is a judgment call.**

Everything else it decides. A cutoff, a distance, or a category is a reversible choice, so MAIA picks a sensible default and tells you which one. You can change it afterward.

### Questions

A question arrives as a short list of options or as a yes or no. Pick one, and the run continues.

### Approvals

Some actions run only after you approve them. MAIA shows a card, and you choose **Approve** or **Decline**. Decline, and MAIA goes on without that step.

| Action | The card asks |
| --- | --- |
| Removing a layer | Delete layer? |
| Saving a method | Save skill? |
| Changing or removing a saved method | Update skill? or Delete skill? |
| Changing a column that already holds answers | Update enrichment? |
| Researching more rows than your row limit | Enrich this column? The card names the column and the row count, and it says the run spends credits |

> **Note:** Before a large run starts, MAIA checks your balance. A run the balance cannot cover is refused, and MAIA says how far short it is. From the table's **Enrich** menu, MAIA offers to run the rows you can afford instead. See [Run an enrichment](https://maia-analytics.com/docs/enrichments/run-an-enrichment).

Over MCP the run reports `needs_input`, and your client answers with `respond`. See [Runs and approvals](https://maia-analytics.com/docs/mcp/runs-and-approvals).

## Stop, queue, and leave

| You want to | In the app | Over MCP |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Stop a run | The send button is a stop button while the box is empty | `stop_run` |
| Add a request mid-run | Type it. It waits in a queue until the run ends. **Send now** stops the run and sends it | Wait for the run to end. A request sent during a run is refused |
| Leave | Close the project. The run and its enrichments keep going, and the answer is in the chat when you return | Call `get_run` later |

A stop is cooperative. MAIA keeps what it finished.

## Limits

- **One run per project at a time.** Several projects can run at once.
- **A run has a time limit.** Send a long job as several short requests.

Next: [Review](https://maia-analytics.com/docs/using-maia/review).