Grind Mode

Tackle large tasks with parallel agents that plan and execute over hours.

Grind mode is designed for large tasks that require planning, coordination, and extended execution time. Powered by the Long Running Agent (LRA), Grind uses a 2-phase approach: a planner investigates your codebase and creates a structured plan, then delegates subtasks to parallel workers for execution.

When to Use Grind

How Grind Works

Phase 1: Planning

The agent investigates your codebase — reading files, running builds, checking tests — and produces a structured plan with phases and subtasks in Markdown.

The plan is presented for your review before any code changes are made.

Plan Approval

You control when and how plans are approved:

• Manual approval — Review the plan and approve or reject it
• Auto-accept — Plans execute automatically without waiting for approval

Toggle between modes using the plan approval toggle in the input bar.

When a plan is awaiting approval, you can:

• Approve — The agent begins execution
• Reject — The agent revises its approach based on your feedback
• Send a message with additional context or corrections

You can request revisions multiple times until the plan meets your requirements.

Phase 2: Execution

Once approved, the planner delegates subtasks to parallel workers:

• Multiple workers run simultaneously on different parts of the codebase
• Each worker is scoped to specific directories to avoid conflicts
• Workers can be assigned different model tiers based on task complexity
• Sub-planners can recursively delegate for deeply complex tasks

You can track each parallel agent's real-time activity and status in the dashboard.

Verification

After all workers complete, the agent:

1. Runs the build to verify compilation
2. Runs tests and compares against the baseline
3. Runs linters and checks for regressions
4. Commits and pushes changes
5. Creates a pull request

Enabling Grind Mode

1. Open the Agent page in the dashboard
2. Toggle Grind in the input bar
3. Select a time limit:
   • 3 hours
   • 5 hours
   • 10 hours
   • Until done (no time limit)
4. Choose your plan approval preference (manual or auto-accept)
5. Send your prompt

Sandbox Environment

Grind sessions run in an isolated sandbox with a full desktop environment. The Sandbox Panel gives you:

• Desktop view — Live stream of the agent's virtual desktop
• File changes — Real-time view of modified files with diffs
• Plan phases — Track progress through the execution plan
• Terminal — See command output
• Parallel agents — Monitor each worker's current activity

Browser Support

The sandbox includes a real browser that the agent can use to:

• Navigate to URLs and interact with web applications
• Click elements, fill forms, type text, and scroll
• Take screenshots for visual validation
• Run E2E tests against a running application

This is especially useful for UI validation, as the agent can interact with web applications visually and verify behavior in a real browser.

CLI Usage

Grind mode is also available via the CLI with the --lra flag:

paragon --lra "your instruction" --model paragon-md --timeout 3h

Add --browser to enable browser support and --auto-accept to skip plan approval.

Tips

• Be specific — Detailed prompts produce better plans. Include what to test, expected behavior, edge cases, and constraints.
• Start with auto-accept off — Review the first few plans manually to calibrate quality, then switch to auto-accept for trusted workflows.
• Use for coverage goals — Grind is ideal for "add tests for all untested modules" or "fix all flaky tests in this repo" type tasks.
• Multiple repos — You can pre-clone multiple repositories for cross-repo coordination.