Restart the intended Sidekick

Restart the intended Sidekick in Cortex Chat: practical steps, setting explanations, result checks and troubleshooting.

Restart acts on the runtime, not just the current browser panel. A tool-settings restart can affect the Sidekick in every conversation, so it should be done after saving relevant changes and understanding ongoing work.

Before you start

The Sidekick identity, role description, runtime and tool policy describe different things. Name and artwork identify the assistant. Skills and job tell it how to approach work. Sessions determines whether its runtime is available, and saved tool settings determine the operations it can use. An assistant can therefore have a clear job but still be offline or lack a required app permission. Diagnose the specific layer before restarting or replacing it. In particular, removal is not a harmless refresh: the confirmation explains that the transcript is permanently deleted. Preserve the work you need through an appropriate authorised artifact before a destructive action.

Step-by-step

1. Open Manage Sidekicks and identify the exact assistant.
2. Select Restart only when you intend to restart that runtime.
3. Keep the panel open and read the updated lifecycle and connection status.

What the settings mean

Check the result

The runtime leaves restarting and reports its confirmed state.

If it does not work

A successful restart request is not proof the agent is ready. If status remains unavailable, inspect the underlying Sessions connection instead of issuing repeated restarts.

Continue with the right context

Return to the Cortex Chat guide index to choose another task. Keep the current account, assistant and conversation in view when following the next guide. To use the product, open Cortex Chat.

• Create a specialist Sidekick
• Write a clear Skills and job description
• Read a Sidekick runtime status

Last updated 2026-11-05