# Your first agent task on an iPhone

Give the built-in agent a small task on a phone, watch the steps, read the answer card, then meet your first ask card.

This guide picks up where the [quickstart](/quickstart/) ends. You give the agent a task that needs a few taps, watch it work on the live picture, and read the answer. Then you give it a task that makes it stop and ask you first.

Time: about 10 minutes.

You need:

- Silan on your Mac with setup finished.
- An iPhone or iPad set up by the Simple way or the Developer way (see [Devices](/devices/)).
- An agent provider, or a connected AI app, picked in **Settings › Providers**.

## Steps

1. Open Silan and click your phone in the sidebar. The phone's page opens with three columns: the sidebar, a chat in the middle, and the device column on the right with **Screen**, **Elements**, **Log** and **Info**. The live picture shows what the phone shows now.
2. Click **New chat**. A fresh chat opens in the middle column. If the device column says **No device yet**, click **Pick a device** and choose the phone. The **Send** button only works once a device is picked.
3. In the message box, type `Open Calculator and work out 12 × 7.` and click **Send**, or press Return.
4. Watch the chat. The top line turns to **Working** with a running clock and a step count. Below it a step list grows as the agent moves: "Opened Calculator", "Plan: 2 goals", then a line for each tap such as "Tapped 1", "Tapped 2", "Tapped Multiply", "Tapped 7", "Tapped Equals". Each step carries a small picture.
5. Look at the live picture at the same time. Calculator opens on the phone and the display fills in as the agent taps, ending with `84`.
6. Read the answer card. It has a green check, a line such as "Worked for 26 s · 6 steps", and the agent's own words: it opened Calculator and did 12 × 7, and the answer is 84. The folded step list sits above the card. Click it to open every step and picture.
7. Find the chat again later under **All chats** in the sidebar. Every task you give the agent is kept there with its steps, pictures and answer.

<figure class="shot"><video src="/media/calculator-mac.mp4" poster="/media/calculator-mac-poster.jpg" width="1440" height="900" controls muted playsinline preload="none" aria-label="The whole first task: Open Calculator and work out 12 times 7, from the plan to the answer card (recorded 32 s)."></video><figcaption>The whole first task: Open Calculator and work out 12 times 7, from the plan to the answer card (recorded 32 s).</figcaption></figure>

Now a task that makes the agent ask.

8. Click **New chat** again and keep the same device. Type `Open Clock, start the stopwatch, and record one lap.` and click **Send**.
9. Watch for an ask card in the chat. The built-in agent wants to open an app you did not name in the task, so Silan stops and shows a card that names the app and why it asks. The same card sits in your **Inbox** under **Needs you**.
10. Pick how long the answer should hold. The card offers reach choices such as **For this chat** or the app **for 1 hour**, and a **Don't allow** button. Choose **For this chat**.
11. Watch the stopwatch start on the live picture, then a lap land in its list. The answer card says what the agent did and the Clock app shows **Lap 1**.

<figure class="shot"><video src="/media/clock-ask-card-mac.mp4" poster="/media/clock-ask-card-mac-poster.jpg" width="1440" height="1094" controls muted playsinline preload="none" aria-label="The ask card for Clock: the agent waits until you press Approve, then starts the stopwatch and records one lap (recorded 41 s)."></video><figcaption>The ask card for Clock: the agent waits until you press Approve, then starts the stopwatch and records one lap (recorded 41 s).</figcaption></figure>

If you want to stop the agent at any time, press Control Option Command Period or click **Stop Everything**. See [Safety](/safety/) for the one switch that makes the agent ask before it pays, sends, posts or deletes.

## If something goes wrong

- **Send does nothing.** No device is picked. Click **Pick a device** in the device column, or pick the phone from the device list under the message box.
- **The agent cannot tap.** On the Simple way the phone's pointer must be on and the Bluetooth link alive. Open the phone's **Info** tab. If it says view-only, go back to **Settings › Devices & Drivers** and press **Set up** again.
- **Two apps have the same name.** Silan retries with a sharper target. If the task still fails, name the app more exactly, for example "the built-in Clock app".
- **The ask card never shows.** Check **Settings › Safety**. If the app is already under **Allowed for now**, the agent does not ask again until the hour is up.

:::note[Proof]
Proved on an iPhone 11 (iOS 27) on a cable, 4 Nov 2026, by a Silan worker: the Calculator task gave 84 in 26 s over 6 steps, and the Clock task raised the ask card and recorded Lap 1. Source: the teaser capture report. Personal tasks on the Simple way were also proved by the owner on 3 Nov 2026 (use-case facts, 7a).
:::