--- title: "Tasks" description: "A task is a piece of work that has to happen around a tour, a stop, a shipment, a load, a transport draft or a carrier. Orbit assigns it to the right people, tracks it until it is done, and keeps a record of who did what." url: "https://support.pr-4.orbit.do/en/tasks/tasks" locale: "en" lastReviewed: "2026-09-30" --- # Tasks A task is a piece of work that has to happen around a tour, a stop, a shipment, a load, a transport draft or a carrier. Orbit assigns it to the right people, tracks it until it is done, and keeps a record of who did what. ## Overview Much of the work in logistics happens next to the transport itself. A driver checks the seal before leaving the depot, someone collects empty crates at a café, a dispatcher confirms a customs document before a tour can start. Tasks give this work a place in Orbit. Each `Task` belongs to one object, has an assignee and an optional due date, and can carry a form that the assignee fills in when they complete it. **Key highlights:** * **Bound to one object:** every `Task` refers to exactly one `Tour`, `Stop`, `Shipment`, `Load`, `Transport Draft` or `Carrier` * **Assigned by scope:** a task goes to a whole organisation, a team or a single user, on the operator or carrier side * **Created automatically:** task templates create tasks when something happens in Orbit, and integrations create them through the API * **Can hold up the tour:** a blocking task must be completed or skipped before the driver can continue * **Keeps a record:** completed tasks store the filled form, and a template can turn it into a PDF document ## What a Task Belongs To A task always refers to one object in your organisation, so the assignee sees what the work is about. | Object | Typical use | | ----------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- | | `Tour` | A vehicle check before departure, a debrief after the tour | | `Stop` | Work at one address on the tour, such as collecting empties | | `Shipment` | A document check or a follow-up for one shipment | | `Load` | A check on one pallet or package | | `Transport Draft` | A review of a booking before it becomes a transport | | `Carrier` | Paperwork for a carrier, such as an insurance certificate | A task on a `Stop` stays with that stop even when you replan the tour. It can only be completed once the driver has arrived at the stop. ## Statuses Every task starts as `Open` and ends in one of three closed statuses. A closed status is final: a completed, skipped or cancelled task cannot be reopened. | Status | Meaning | | ----------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `Open` | The work is still to be done | | `Completed` | The assignee did the work and, if the task has a form, submitted it | | `Skipped` | The assignee decided the work was not needed. Only possible for skippable tasks | | `Cancelled` | An operator withdrew the task, for example because it was created in error | **Overdue** is not a separate status. An open task whose due date has passed is shown as overdue in every app, and it stays `Open` until someone closes it. When a stop leaves its tour, or the whole tour is cancelled or deleted, the tasks on that stop are no longer needed. Orbit removes them from all task lists, and their history shows **Task deleted**. If the stop comes back, for example because a cancelled tour is reset, the tasks that a template created for it reopen. Tasks that were already completed, skipped or cancelled are not affected. ## Who a Task Is Assigned To Each task has one assignee. You pick the side and the level: an organisation, a team or a single user. | Side | Organisation | Team | User | | -------- | ------------------------- | ----------------- | ---------------- | | Operator | **Operator organization** | **Operator team** | **Operator** | | Carrier | **Carrier** | **Carrier team** | **Carrier user** | Drivers are carrier users, so a task for a driver is assigned to the carrier, to the driver's carrier team or to the driver in person. A carrier user only sees tasks assigned to their carrier, their own team or themselves. Operators see every task in the organisation. Through the API, a task can also go to a shipper, a shipper team or a shipper user. Orbit Hub does not show tasks, so your operators work such a task in Orbit MissionControl or through the API. Operators can move an open task to another assignee in Orbit MissionControl. Carrier users can complete and skip tasks, but they cannot reassign or cancel them. ## Due Dates A due date is optional. A task template can set it to a fixed time after the task is created, or, for tasks on a stop, relative to the end of the stop's planned time window. Tasks created through the API take the due date the integration sends. ## Skippable, Blocking and Requires a Person Three settings control how strict a task is. Task templates set them for the tasks they create, and the API accepts them per task. All three are off by default. * **Skippable:** the assignee may skip the task instead of completing it. A task that is not skippable can only be completed or cancelled. * **Blocking:** an open blocking task holds up the tour. In Orbit Cockpit and Orbit Connect, a blocking task on the tour must be closed before the tour can start or continue, and a blocking task on a stop must be closed before the driver can depart from that stop. Once the last blocking task is completed or skipped, the tour continues on its own. * **Requires a person:** only a signed-in user can complete the task. Completion from an API key or an automation is rejected. One exception: when a driver departs without a mandatory proof, Orbit opens a clarification case for it, and if the proof arrives afterwards, Orbit closes that case's task itself. The task history shows when the missing proof arrived. Blocking applies to tasks on a tour or a stop that are assigned to the carrier side. Only Orbit Cockpit and Orbit Connect hold up the tour, and a carrier user only sees the tasks of their own carrier. A blocking task assigned to your operator team does not stop a driver. ![An Orbit Cockpit stop with its tasks section. One of the tasks is marked as blocking.](https://support.pr-4.orbit.do/images/tasks/01-cockpit-stop-tasks.png) *The tasks at a stop in Orbit Cockpit. The blocking task must be done before the driver can depart.* ## Forms A task can carry a form: checkboxes, text and number fields, dates, choices, photos and file uploads, grouped into steps and shown or hidden by conditions. The assignee fills in the form and submits it to complete the task. Orbit checks the required fields before it accepts the completion, and the submitted values stay on the task as its result. A task without a form is completed directly once the work is done. See [Task Forms](https://support.pr-4.orbit.do/en/tasks/task-forms) for every field type and option. ## Where Tasks Come From * **Task templates:** a template creates tasks automatically when a trigger happens, for example when a tour is assigned or for each stop of a tour. You manage templates in Orbit MissionControl under **Settings** > **Task Templates**. See [Task Templates](https://support.pr-4.orbit.do/en/tasks/task-templates). * **The API:** an integration creates a task for any supported object. These tasks show the origin **API**. ## Where Tasks Show Up **Orbit MissionControl:** operators find all tasks under **Tasks** in the navigation, with the views **All tasks** and **My tasks**, and the **Tasks** filter in the Inbox. The task window is where operators complete, skip, cancel, reassign or snooze a task and read its history. See [Tasks in Orbit MissionControl](https://support.pr-4.orbit.do/en/tasks/tasks-in-orbit-missioncontrol). **Orbit Cockpit:** drivers see a **Tasks** section on the tour and on each stop. Tasks at a stop open when the driver arrives, and blocking tasks appear before the driver can continue. See [Tasks in Orbit Cockpit](https://support.pr-4.orbit.do/en/tasks/tasks-in-orbit-cockpit). **Orbit Connect:** carrier users find their tasks under **Tasks** in the navigation and on the tour page. A blocking task opens before the tour can continue. See [Tasks in Orbit Connect](https://support.pr-4.orbit.do/en/tasks/tasks-in-orbit-connect). ## Documents on Completion A task template can name a document template under **Generate document**. When a task from that template is completed, Orbit renders a PDF from the submitted form and attaches it to the task and to the object the task belongs to. Operators find it in the **Documents** section of the task window and with the tour or shipment. Completing the task never waits for the document. See [Task Templates](https://support.pr-4.orbit.do/en/tasks/task-templates) and [Document Engine](https://support.pr-4.orbit.do/en/advanced-features/document-engine). ## Example Spaceport Shipping Co. delivers beverages to cafés across Lisbon. Their operations lead, Julia, sets up a task template that creates the task "Collect empty crates" for each stop of a tour. It is assigned to the carrier, carries a form with a crate count and a photo, and blocks departure from the stop. When the driver Mohammad arrives at a café in the Alfama district, Orbit Cockpit shows the task. He counts twelve crates, takes a photo and submits the form, and only then can he depart. Back in the office, Julia opens the task in Orbit MissionControl and downloads the PDF receipt that Orbit attached to the tour. ## Technical Details Tasks and task templates are available through the Orbit API v5: * `POST /tasks` creates a task for an object, named by its `referencedEntityOrn`. A task on a stop refers to the stop's stable id, so the reference survives replanning. * `GET /tasks` lists tasks with filters for status, assignee and object. `GET /tasks/{taskId}` returns one task with its form and, once closed, its `outcome`. * `POST /tasks/{taskId}/actions` applies one action to an open task. The `type` is `complete`, `skip`, `cancel`, `reassign`, `snooze`, `unsnooze` or `delete`. A task that requires a person rejects `complete` from an API key, and a task on a stop rejects it until the driver has arrived. * `/tasktemplates` manages task templates. Four webhook events follow the task lifecycle: `task-created`, `task-completed`, `task-skipped` and `task-cancelled`. Each delivery carries the task after the change and a `referencedEntity` with the object's ORN, type and id. On `task-completed`, `task.outcome.formOutput` holds the submitted form. Reassigning, snoozing and removing a task send no event. PDF documents from a completed task arrive separately through the `document-link-action-created` event. See the [Orbit API Reference](https://orbit-api.readme.io) for the endpoints, schemas and webhook payloads. ## Where to Go Next * [Task Templates](https://support.pr-4.orbit.do/en/tasks/task-templates): create tasks automatically * [Task Forms](https://support.pr-4.orbit.do/en/tasks/task-forms): build the form a task carries * [Tasks in Orbit MissionControl](https://support.pr-4.orbit.do/en/tasks/tasks-in-orbit-missioncontrol): follow and work on tasks as an operator * [Tasks in Orbit Cockpit](https://support.pr-4.orbit.do/en/tasks/tasks-in-orbit-cockpit): complete tasks on the tour as a driver * [Tasks in Orbit Connect](https://support.pr-4.orbit.do/en/tasks/tasks-in-orbit-connect): work on tasks as a carrier ## FAQ **Q: Can I undo a completed task?** No. Completed, skipped and cancelled are final. If the work has to happen again, another task is needed. **Q: Does a blocking task stop operators in Orbit MissionControl?** No. Blocking tasks hold up the tour in Orbit Cockpit and Orbit Connect, for the carrier users who can see them. **Q: Can a carrier cancel or reassign a task?** No. Carrier users can complete tasks and skip skippable tasks. Cancelling and reassigning are for operators. **Q: Why do I not see tasks in my organisation?** Tasks must be enabled for your organisation. Contact Orbit support to turn them on.