Reading Naetive without reading code

Last reviewed: 16 Sep 2026

You run the project. Agents write the code. Naetive is where you find out what is going on without opening a chat or a repository. This page is the daily routine, for someone who never reads a diff.

The morning: Status

Open Status. One word says how the project's understanding is doing:

Thriving or Steady: fine. Read on.
Starting: too new to judge. Ask an agent to map the project if it has not.
Drifting: the code moved and the understanding did not follow. Ask any agent: "re-check the understanding against the recent changes."
At risk: entries are disputed and waiting on you. Open Understanding and settle them; it takes a minute.

Then the four cells. Agents none when you expected one means something is disconnected: open Connect. Work tells you what is in motion and how many jobs are stale. Code is the last push Naetive saw.

Then: Work, one band at a time

Needs you first. It is short by design: a blocker an agent named, a decision it is waiting on, a disputed entry. Everything else keeps moving without you; this band is the whole list of where it does not. Each item says what it needs in a sentence.

In motion next. Each card is a job an agent is on or touched today. Open the card, not a chat. Read three things:

the spec, top section: what this is and why, in plain words;
the todos: how many are ticked;
the last update: what changed and what is next, in one or two sentences.

That is enough to know where the job is. The files and commits are attached under the update if someone technical wants them.

Stale occasionally. A job untouched for a week is either done and not closed, or forgotten. Say to an agent: "pick up the export job where it left off" or "archive it".

Reading an entry on Understanding

An entry is one thing the project knows. Its title and summary are written for you, in words you could repeat to a colleague. Under it:

Observed means an agent saw it in the code or the record. Proposed means it is the agent's interpretation, not yet confirmed.
Cites a file means you can open the code it rests on. Not yet checked means nothing backs it yet; treat it as a note, not a fact.
Disputed means an agent thinks it is wrong. It is waiting on you in Needs you.
Detail for agents, folded, is the technical part. Skip it.

If an entry looks wrong to you, say so to an agent: "I don't think that is right, dispute it", or drop it from Needs you.

Settling a dispute

Needs you gives three choices. Let an agent settle it: an agent re-reads the code and decides, then records the answer. Keep it: you know it is right. Drop it: you know it is wrong. When in doubt, let an agent settle it; that is what it is for.

Asking for a picture

Any connected agent can tell you the state of things in prose: "Give me a two-paragraph update on the project for the team" or "What are the open risks?". It reads the same understanding and the same jobs you see, so its answer matches the pages.

What you do not have to do

You do not write entries, tick todos, or post updates; agents do. You do not read the code. You read Status, then Needs you, then In motion, and you answer the few questions that reach you. That is the job.