> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.seltz.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Poll for completion

> Managing the wait yourself against the Seltz Agent API, instead of create_and_wait / createAndWait

To check on a run from somewhere other than where you started it, such as a
serverless function, a job queue, or a plain REST caller with no waiter,
poll for its status yourself instead of relying on a blocking call.

`create_and_wait` / `createAndWait` cover the common case: see
[Basic run](/agent/guides/basic-run) for the full walkthrough. This guide
covers doing that by hand instead.

## Create, then poll `get`

[`create`](/api-reference/agent/start-run) returns immediately with the run
in `pending` state. Poll [`get`](/api-reference/agent/get-run) by id until
[`status`](/api-reference/agent/get-run#response-status) reaches a terminal
state (`completed`, `failed`, or `cancelled`);
[`stop_reason`](/api-reference/agent/get-run#response-stop-reason-one-of-1)
appears only once it does.

<CodeGroup>
  ```python Python theme={null}
  import time

  from seltz import AgentRunStatus

  TERMINAL = {
      AgentRunStatus.AGENT_RUN_STATUS_COMPLETED,
      AgentRunStatus.AGENT_RUN_STATUS_FAILED,
      AgentRunStatus.AGENT_RUN_STATUS_CANCELLED,
  }

  run = client.agent.create(
      "What are the three most notable AI-company acquisitions announced in 2026?"
  )

  while run.status not in TERMINAL:
      time.sleep(10)
      run = client.agent.get(run.id)

  print(run.status, run.stop_reason)
  ```

  ```typescript TypeScript theme={null}
  import { AgentRunStatus } from "seltz";

  const TERMINAL = [AgentRunStatus.COMPLETED, AgentRunStatus.FAILED, AgentRunStatus.CANCELLED];

  let run = await client.agent.create({
    query: "What are the three most notable AI-company acquisitions announced in 2026?",
  });

  while (!TERMINAL.includes(run.status)) {
    await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 10000));
    run = await client.agent.get(run.id);
  }

  console.log(run.status, run.stopReason);
  ```

  ```bash cURL theme={null}
  curl "https://api.seltz.ai/v1/agent/runs/$RUN_ID" \
    -H "x-api-key: $SELTZ_API_KEY"
  ```
</CodeGroup>

<Note>
  `run.status` prints as a raw integer in Python (`3` for `completed`) unless
  you compare against the named constant or call `.Name()`. This is the same
  gotcha [Monitor's run status](/monitor/reference#enum-spelling) has. Over REST and in
  TypeScript, `status` is already the lowercase/named form (`"completed"`,
  `AgentRunStatus.COMPLETED`).
</Note>

This is exactly what `wait` / `createAndWait` do for you. Reach for them
first, and write your own loop only when you need to poll from somewhere the
blocking call does not fit, or need a different interval than the SDK default
of 10 seconds.

<CodeGroup>
  ```python Python theme={null}
  run = client.agent.wait(run_id, poll_interval=5, timeout=120)
  ```

  ```typescript TypeScript theme={null}
  const run = await client.agent.wait(runId, { pollIntervalMs: 5000, timeoutMs: 120000 });
  ```
</CodeGroup>

`timeout` / `timeoutMs` bounds the wait **client-side only**. On expiry the
SDK raises `SeltzTimeoutError`, but the run keeps executing server-side. Poll
`get` again later, or see [Cancel a run](/agent/guides/cancel-a-run) if you
no longer want the result.

## Next steps

* [List runs](/agent/guides/list-runs): paging this org's runs, newest first
* [Cancel a run](/agent/guides/cancel-a-run): best-effort cancellation, and why it can lose the race to completion
* [Reference](/agent/reference): endpoints, fields, limits and errors
* [Agent API Reference](/api-reference/agent/get-run): full REST request and response specification