git:20260527.f1b48a4 to git:20260614.b09402f

---

name: pan-kill

description: "pan kill <id> — stop a running agent (workspace and branch preserved)"

triggers:

- pan kill

- stop agent

- kill agent

- terminate agent

- abort agent

allowed-tools:

- Bash

- Read

---

# Stop Agent

## Overview

This skill guides you through gracefully stopping a running autonomous agent and cleaning up its resources.

## When to Use

- Agent is stuck or not making progress

- Need to reassign the work

- Agent completed work and should be stopped

- Emergency stop needed

- Freeing up system resources

## Quick Command

```bash

# Using pan CLI

pan kill ISSUE-123

# Or directly via tmux

tmux kill-session -t agent-ISSUE-123

```

## Workflow

### 1. Check Agent Status First

Before killing, understand what the agent is doing:

```bash

# List running agents

pan status

# Or via tmux

tmux list-sessions | grep agent

# See recent activity

tmux capture-pane -t agent-ISSUE-123 -p | tail -30

```

### 2. Graceful Shutdown (Recommended)

Give the agent a chance to save state:

```bash

# Send shutdown message (ALWAYS use pan tell, NOT raw tmux)

pan tell ISSUE-123 "Please save your progress to STATE.md and stop working."

# Wait for acknowledgment

sleep 10

tmux capture-pane -t agent-ISSUE-123 -p | tail -10

# Then kill the session

tmux kill-session -t agent-ISSUE-123

```

**WARNING:** DO NOT use raw `tmux send-keys` - agents often forget the Enter key. Always use `pan tell` which handles this correctly.

### 3. Immediate Stop (If Needed)

```bash

# Kill immediately

tmux kill-session -t agent-ISSUE-123

```

### 4. Verify Stopped

```bash

# Confirm session is gone

tmux list-sessions | grep agent-ISSUE-123

# Should return nothing

```

### 5. Clean Up (Optional)

```bash

# The workspace remains for inspection

ls -la /path/to/workspaces/ISSUE-123/

# View any uncommitted work

cd /path/to/workspaces/ISSUE-123

git status

git diff

```

## Kill All Agents

```bash

# Kill all agent sessions

tmux list-sessions -F "#{session_name}" | grep "^agent-" | xargs -I {} tmux kill-session -t {}

# Verify all gone

tmux list-sessions | grep agent

```

## Preserving Work

Before killing, you may want to preserve the agent's progress:

```bash

# Attach and review

tmux attach -t agent-ISSUE-123

# Ctrl+b d to detach

# Or capture the full session

tmux capture-pane -t agent-ISSUE-123 -p -S - > agent-output.txt

cd /path/to/workspaces/ISSUE-123

git add -A && git commit -m "WIP: state before kill"

```

## After Killing

Options for the work:

1. **Resume later** - Use `pan start ISSUE-123` to spawn a new agent

2. **Do it yourself** - Work in the existing workspace manually

3. **Abandon** - Remove the workspace if work is no longer needed

## Troubleshooting

**Session won't die:**

```bash

# Force kill with signal

tmux kill-session -t agent-ISSUE-123

# If that fails, find and kill the process

ps aux | grep "agent-ISSUE-123"

kill -9 <PID>

```

**Multiple agents for same issue:**

```bash

# List all matching sessions

tmux list-sessions | grep ISSUE-123

# Kill each one

tmux kill-session -t agent-ISSUE-123

tmux kill-session -t agent-ISSUE-123-2

```

**Can't find the session:**

```bash

# List ALL tmux sessions

tmux list-sessions

# Check if process is running outside tmux

ps aux | grep claude

```

## Related Skills

- `/pan:status` - Check agent status

- `/pan:tell` - Send message before killing

- `/pan:rescue` - Recover work from killed agents