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

> ## Agent Instructions
> Autumn AI (autumn.ai) is a people and company intelligence API, a separate company from useautumn.com (billing software); no billing-product routes exist here.
> Base URL https://api.autumn.ai. Auth on every request: `X-API-Key: <key>` or `Authorization: Bearer <key>`. Plain HTTP + JSON. Schemas: https://www.autumn.ai/docs/openapi.json. Every docs page is Markdown at its URL plus `.md`.

# FAQ

> Short answers to the questions that come up while integrating Autumn.

Answers here are the short version. Each one links to the page that covers the topic
properly.

## Tasks

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Is my task_id still valid after the task finishes?">
    Yes. A `task_id` is durable. Read status and output any time, and continue the task with
    new instructions whenever you want more from it. See [The task model](/docs/concepts/tasks).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Should I continue a task or start a new one?">
    Continue whenever the request refines previous work: add a column, find more rows, narrow
    the criteria, fix empty fields. A continued task keeps its plan, rows, and task-local
    files; a new task starts from nothing. Start fresh only when the goal itself is unrelated.
    See [Follow-up tasks](/docs/guides/follow-up).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Why did I get a 409 when continuing a task?">
    A task runs one turn at a time. Continuing or executing while a turn is in flight is
    rejected with `409` rather than queued. Wait for the current turn to end, or stop it with
    `POST /task/{task_id}/stop`. See [Errors](/docs/api/errors).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does clarify: false skip planning?">
    No. The agent always plans. `clarify: false` means it infers defaults and proceeds without
    stopping; `clarify: true` allows one blocking question before execution. See
    [Human in the loop](/docs/guides/human-in-the-loop).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I change the model tier after starting?">
    No. `version` applies to the start routes only, and the task stays on that tier for its
    whole life, including every continue. Read it back as `tier` on `GET /task/{task_id}`. See
    [Model tiers](/docs/concepts/model-tiers).
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Waiting and reading results

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Why does my poll loop never exit?">
    Two common causes. First, a finished task returns to `status: "plan"`, which is also its
    state before executing, so waiting on `status` alone misreads it. Second, loops that only
    wait for `plan` plus `idle` never exit on a task that was deleted or ran out of credits.
    [Task lifecycle](/docs/concepts/lifecycle) has the complete terminal check to copy.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Why is row[&#x22;title&#x22;] an object instead of a string?">
    Output rows are made of cells. Every field pairs its value with the source it came from:
    `{"value": "Acme", "source_id": "s1"}`. Flatten to plain values when you only want the
    data, and keep the cells when you need provenance. See
    [Outputs and sources](/docs/concepts/outputs).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What are the underscore keys in my rows?">
    Keys prefixed with `_` are row metadata, not columns: `_row_id`, `_sources`, and lineage or
    validation fields. Skip them when presenting results.
    [Structured output](/docs/guides/structured-output) includes a flatten helper that drops them.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Do I have to hold a stream open for long tasks?">
    No. Streaming is optional. Poll `GET /task/{task_id}` when you only care about the result,
    and reach for the SSE routes when you want to watch the agent work. See
    [Live messages](/docs/guides/streaming).
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Keys, credits, and limits

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Which header carries the API key?">
    Either `X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY` or `Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY`. Use the full key you
    copied when creating it; the shortened key shown later in settings is display-only and
    returns `401`. See [API overview](/docs/api-routes#authentication).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How do I check my credit balance?">
    `GET /credits` returns the balance, and task status responses carry per-task credit usage.
    A task that runs out of credits fails with `402` and an `error` of `out_of_credits`. See
    [Rate limits](/docs/api/rate-limits).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Why was my version value rejected?">
    `ranger` and `scout` are the only accepted values for `version`. Anything else returns
    `422` with `{"error": "invalid_request", "param": "version"}`. See [Model tiers](/docs/concepts/model-tiers).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What files can I upload, and how big?">
    `.csv`, `.txt`, `.md`, and `.markdown`, up to 10 MB and 10,000 rows. Upload through the
    presign flow, and send the `PUT` to the presigned URL without any Autumn auth headers. See
    [Attach a CSV](/docs/guides/file-uploads).
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

Still stuck? The [Cookbook](/docs/cookbook/overview) walks through complete pipelines, and
[llms-full.txt](https://www.autumn.ai/docs/llms-full.txt) packs the whole developer surface
into one file you can hand to an agent.