1 / 11
Anthropic names four loop types: turn-based, goal-based, time-based and proactive.
Turn-based you steer; goal-based uses /goal; time-based uses /loop or /schedule; proactive runs on events or a schedule with nobody present.
Loops
One at a time. Tell it whether you knew, and the ones you did not stay in your pile.
The whole topic11
Anthropic names four loop types: turn-based, goal-based, time-based and proactive.
Turn-based you steer; goal-based uses
/goal; time-based uses/loopor/schedule; proactive runs on events or a schedule with nobody present./loopwithout an interval lets Claude pick each interval itself./loop 5m promptfixes it. A bare/loopruns a built-in maintenance prompt, or yourloop.md..claude/loop.mdreplaces the default prompt of a bare loop.The project file wins over
~/.claude/loop.md, and edits apply on the next iteration.To stop a fixed-interval loop, ask Claude to cancel it.
Esc and Ctrl+C do not stop it.
A good
/goalis a checkable finish line with a cap.The loops post's example is a Lighthouse score of at least 90, capped at five tries.
The Ralph loop is a bash while-loop that starts every iteration with a fresh context.
Each iteration takes one task from a plan file on disk. The plan is disposable: regenerate it when it drifts.
Tests, builds and type checkers act as backpressure on a loop.
They reject bad output so the loop can move fast and still stay correct.
In the compiler project an agent killed its own loop with
pkill.Unattended agents need a loop they cannot reach: run it outside the process they control.
A timer alone is not a loop.
Each turn must look at fresh evidence, or you are just repeating a prompt.
A standalone evaluator, out of the box, approved bugs it had found.
Tune it against your own judgment over several rounds before you trust its "done".
The full harness cost 200 USD and six hours; the solo run cost 9 USD and was broken.
Only use the heavy setup when the gap in quality justifies a cost of over 20x.