While Handy (Handoff's AI assistant) builds an estimate, the chat shows a progress box with the current step, the estimate rows appear as they are created, and a summary card appears at the end. You can select Skip on some steps or stop the run.

The header of the progress box changes with the step. It starts as Working on it... and switches as the work moves along. Each label turns into a completed label when the step finishes.

While the estimate is being built, short messages describe the work, such as "Building your estimate", "Matching materials to suppliers", "Getting local pricing", and "Applying markups and financials".

Handy doesn't wait until the end to show the estimate. Sections and line items appear on the estimate as they are created, so you can follow along.

Editing is locked while the run is active. A banner says "Handy is still working on this estimate. Editing will be available when the chat finishes."

When a step finishes, a summary card shows the result with a status of Complete, Skipped, Stopped, or Failed. It lists counts such as 3 added, 12 updated, or 2 removed, or "Estimate created with 24 items". If nothing changed, it says "No changes made".

Select Show reasoning to see why Handy made the changes. The card stays in the chat, so you can review it later.

Some steps, such as research, show a Skip button. Selecting it moves on without that step. To cancel the whole run, select the stop button in the message box.

See How Handy researches your past work for what skipping research changes.

For a vague request, Handy shows a Clarifying questions card. Choose an option, or select Type your answer..., and select Skip to leave a question unanswered.