Stop or pause an AI agent: when and how?

An AI agent is not a magazine subscription you forget in a corner. It works, consumes tokens, sends messages. Sometimes you need it to stop. Not necessarily forever: just long enough to go on leave, review a process, or monitor your spending at the end of the month. The good news is that it's simple. You just need to know which option to choose.

IPause or deletion: what's the difference?

Deletion, on the other hand, is permanent. The agent disappears along with everything it contained: its mission, its documents, its exchange history. If you want the same agent later, you will have to recreate everything. Pause preserves, deletion erases. It is the only real difference, but it changes everything.

IIFour situations where you should pause an agent

1. 1
   You're going on vacation

   Your office closes for three weeks in August. The overdue payment follow-up agent has no one to follow up with, and you're not there to validate its messages. Put it on pause, it will resume when you return.

2. 2
   You are changing a process

   You're revamping your prices or your catalog. The agent sending quotes risks proposing obsolete prices. Pause it while you update its documents.

3. 3
   The budget is tight

   Difficult end of month, you consumed a lot of tokens on another agent. Suspending a secondary agent prevents emptying the reservoir before the 1st of the following month.

4. 4
   You want to observe

   Your agent has been working for two months. You want to see what happens without it for a few weeks, to measure its real usefulness. Pause allows this test without breaking anything.

A restaurant owner who closes every Monday can let their agent keep running: the account rhythm already manages the days. But if they close for the entire month of January, pausing avoids consuming tokens for nothing. A tradesperson who finishes a six-month project no longer needs their project monitoring agent: pause until the next project.

IIIHow to pause an agent in three clicks

1. 1
   Open your space

   Log in to your ABYS account. You see the list of your agents, each with its status: active, on pause, or pending validation.

2. 2
   Click on the agent in question

   Select the agent you want to suspend. Its file opens with its mission, its documents, its history.

3. 3
   Activate the pause

   A button clearly indicates the option. One click, and the agent goes on pause. It won't work until you reactivate it the same way.

IVWhat happens during the pause

The agent sleeps. It doesn't read incoming emails, it doesn't send anything, it doesn't consume tokens. If someone writes to it while it's on pause, the message remains pending. When you reactivate the agent, it resumes its work at the next scheduled time according to your plan's rhythm. Pending messages will be processed at that time.

PauseDeletion

The agent keeps its configuration

Everything is permanently deleted

No tokens consumed

No tokens consumed

Reactivation in one click

You have to recreate everything

History preserved

History lost

Ideal for a temporary interruption

Ideal when the agent is no longer useful

VWhen to delete an agent rather than pause it

Deletion makes sense in three cases. First case: the agent was a test, it didn't work out, you won't launch it again. Second case: you created a new agent that does the same work better. Third case: the documents it contains are obsolete and you prefer to start from scratch. In all other cases, pause is enough. It costs nothing and leaves the door open for you.

VIPause and billing: what you need to know

Your ABYS subscription sets a rhythm and a reservoir of tokens for all your active agentsWhen an agent is on pause, it no longer draws from this reservoir. But the subscription itself continues: you pay for the rhythm and the reservoir, not for each agent individually. If you put all your agents on pause, you keep your plan and your tokens accumulate up to the monthly cap.

An example: you have the plan at 59 euros excl. VAT per month. You go away for three weeks in August and put your two agents on pause. When you return, you reactivate them. They resume their work with the token reserve for the current month. You have lost nothing, paid nothing extra.

VIIChecklist before pausing an agent

• The agent has no message pending validation
• You noted why you are putting it on pause (to remember)
• You notified the people concerned if the agent was responding to customers
• You verified that your other active agents are sufficient for the month

Check what applies to you: the list remembers your answers on this device.

This check takes two minutes. It avoids surprises: a customer waiting for a response, a colleague counting on the agent, or a message stuck in validation.

?Questions we're asked

Does an agent on pause consume tokens?

No, none. An agent on pause doesn't work, so it doesn't consume anything. Your tokens remain available for your other active agents or for the following month.

Can I put multiple agents on pause at the same time?

Yes, each agent manages itself independently. You can have three active and two on pause, or all on pause if you wish.

What happens to an email received during the pause?

It remains pending. When you reactivate the agent, it will process this email at the next scheduled time according to your plan's rhythm.

Does the pause have a maximum duration?

No. An agent can remain on pause for a day, a month, or several years. It will always be there when you reactivate it.

How do you know if an agent is on pause or active?

In your space, each agent displays its status clearly: active, on pause, or pending validation. You can see at a glance what's running and what's sleeping.