Keep explanations up to date — Noea Code documentation

After changing intent or code, check whether the explanations still apply. Use Explain in the sidebar to handle explanations that need attention across the project, or a paragraph's Investigation action to check one piece of content.

Identify what changed

Status	Meaning	Next step
Content to investigate	New or edited wording has no explanation of its own.	Save, then investigate. Implement first if the requirement is not yet met.
Explanation of previous text	The paragraph changed, but the note still explains the earlier wording.	Inspect the text differences and investigate again.
May be outdated	Files read or cited by the explanation have changed.	Review the changed files and recheck the explanation.
No changes found	No content is awaiting investigation or marked as potentially outdated.	Continue reading or verifying specific questions as needed.

“May be outdated” does not necessarily mean a conclusion is wrong; a file change may be unrelated. “No changes found” is not proof that tests pass or all features are complete.

Investigate one paragraph

Save the document, hover over the paragraph, and choose Investigation on the left. An existing margin note may also offer Investigate Again.

This updates only the selected content's explanation. Investigation is unavailable while that content has unsaved changes, and Noea prompts you to save first.

For example, after changing code that prevents duplicate rewards, investigate the corresponding rule to check that its explanation describes the current implementation.

Update explanations across the project

Click Explain in the sidebar to check content awaiting investigation and explanations whose supporting files changed. This action is unavailable if no project is open, the project is read-only, or no implementation folder is linked.

A manually started Explain task opens a chat showing stages, progress, and individual results. You cannot send regular messages in that chat while it runs, but you can use other chats in the project.

After it ends, expand the results to see which explanations changed, which remain accurate, and which checks failed or were left unfinished. An ended task does not mean every check succeeded.

Understand what Explain checked

Explain compares intent with code and checks both paragraph-level and local explanations. It keeps accurate content and updates what needs correction; it does not necessarily rewrite every explanation.

An updated explanation does not mean tests were rerun. To verify behavior, request the checks in a regular chat and then investigate the relevant content. See Read explanations and evidence for interpreting verification scope.

Know when Explain runs automatically

Settings → Current Project → Automation → Explain automatically after implementing is enabled by default. The main triggers are:

Action	Automatic Explain
Accept a proposal that changes intent and still needs implementation.	After its implementation task ends normally.
Accept a proposal that changes intent and is already met by the implementation.	After acceptance.
Start work with Realize in the sidebar.	After the first turn ends normally.
Accept an organization plan that changes intent text.	After acceptance, independently of the setting above.
Reorganize only filenames or folder structure.	Not triggered.
Change only code in a regular chat, choose Implement Directly, or have implementation fail or stop.	Not triggered; run Explain manually.

Automatic Explain runs in the background without creating a regular chat. Continue your original chat and check progress under Runs.

Review records and rerun

The sidebar's Runs section keeps explanation tasks. Expand a task to view read-only records of its executions. Records remain available after switching chats or restarting the app.

After failure or interruption, choose Run Again. Existing explanations are retained. When the new run ends, check that previously failed or unfinished items were handled.

Choose an Agent for each operation

The Agent used by Explain depends on how the task starts. See Agents, models, and usage for project operation settings and their scope.

If explanations will not update, see Troubleshooting and common questions.