Loop

Loop Scheduler

Use this skill for a separate scheduler lane. Each execution starts a fresh codex exec run from an OS scheduler. It does not re-enter the currently open interactive Codex TUI session.

It is not a same-session continuation tool, and it should never install or modify Stop hooks.

If the user asks for "Claude Code /loop but in the same live session", be explicit: Codex does not expose that primitive here. Do not pretend this skill provides same-session scheduled-task behavior.

What this skill is for

Use $loop or /loop when the user wants:

• a recurring check such as check the deploy every 10m
• a periodic slash-like workflow such as /standup or /babysit-prs
• a scheduler-style task list with add/list/remove/run/logs/status controls
• background repetition that can survive after the current interactive turn ends

Do not use this skill when the user wants:

• the same live TUI session or same conversation to be resumed later
• immediate same-turn continuation
• "keep working until done"
• a completion promise loop

Those cases are not handled by this skill.

User-scope install

Install the skill bundle into ~/.codex/skills/loop with:

bash scripts/install-user-scope.sh

Optional flags:

• --codex-home /absolute/path/to/.codex
• --mode copy|symlink

This installs the skill bundle only. It does not register any scheduled jobs and does not touch Stop hooks.

Current scope

The implementation is now user-scope and backend-aware:

• default state root: ~/.codex/loop-scheduler/
• persistent registry: ~/.codex/loop-scheduler/jobs.json
• launcher scripts: ~/.codex/loop-scheduler/launchers/
• logs: ~/.codex/loop-scheduler/logs/
• registry writes are serialized with a filesystem lock under the state dir
• scheduled execution launches fresh agent sessions instead of resuming the live interactive turn
• this is an OS-scheduler approximation, not a Codex-native session scheduler
• default command template targets Codex, but the runner is overridable with LOOP_COMMAND_TEMPLATE for other agent CLIs
• supported backends:
  • macOS: launchd
  • Linux: cron
  • Windows-compatible shells: Task Scheduler via schtasks
• safe validation path: use --dry-run and LOOP_* env overrides
• automated checks: test-parse-request.sh, test-scheduler.sh, test-install-user-scope.sh

User surface

Shorthand schedule mode:

$loop 5m check the deploy
$loop /standup 1
$loop check the deploy every 20m
/loop 5m check the deploy

These examples create scheduled jobs outside the current interactive session. They do not keep the same TUI conversation alive.

Management mode:

$loop list
$loop remove loop-1742562000-a1b2c3
$loop run loop-1742562000-a1b2c3
$loop logs loop-1742562000-a1b2c3
$loop status

Parser helper:

python3 scripts/parse-request.py --request "RAW REQUEST" --pretty

Procedure

1. Resolve the current workspace path first.
2. Parse the request first with:

python3 scripts/parse-request.py --request "RAW REQUEST"

3. Read the JSON fields:
   • action
   • interval
   • prompt
   • job_id
   • run_now
   • dry_run
4. Route by action:
   • add -> schedule-add.sh
   • list -> schedule-list.sh
   • remove -> schedule-remove.sh
   • run -> schedule-run.sh
   • logs -> schedule-logs.sh
   • status -> schedule-status.sh
5. For add, trust the parser output instead of re-deriving the interval by hand. The parser currently supports:
   • leading interval tokens such as 5m /babysit-prs
   • trailing every ... clauses such as check the deploy every 20m
   • word units such as every 5 minutes
   • /loop and $loop prefixes
   • default interval fallback to 10m
   • management commands such as list, status, remove <job-id>, run <job-id>, and logs <job-id>
   • modifier extraction for dry-run and do not run now
6. Prefer --dry-run when validating or when working in a temp environment. It previews the generated job metadata without mutating scheduler state.

Required commands

Add a recurring job:

bash scripts/schedule-add.sh \
  --workspace "/absolute/path/to/workspace" \
  --interval "10m" \
  --prompt "check the deploy"

Recommended parse-and-add flow:

PARSED="$(python3 scripts/parse-request.py --request "check the deploy every 20m")"
INTERVAL="$(jq -r '.interval' <<<"$PARSED")"
PROMPT="$(jq -r '.prompt' <<<"$PARSED")"
RUN_NOW="$(jq -r '.run_now' <<<"$PARSED")"
DRY_RUN="$(jq -r '.dry_run' <<<"$PARSED")"

CMD=(bash scripts/schedule-add.sh --workspace "/absolute/path/to/workspace" --interval "$INTERVAL" --prompt "$PROMPT")
if [[ "$RUN_NOW" == "false" ]]; then
  CMD+=(--no-run-now)
fi
if [[ "$DRY_RUN" == "true" ]]; then
  CMD+=(--dry-run)
fi
"${CMD[@]}"

Management:

bash scripts/schedule-list.sh
bash scripts/schedule-remove.sh --job-id "loop-..."
bash scripts/schedule-run.sh --job-id "loop-..."
bash scripts/schedule-logs.sh --job-id "loop-..."
bash scripts/schedule-status.sh

Environment overrides

The scripts support these overrides for testing and isolation:

• LOOP_STATE_DIR
• LOOP_LOG_DIR
• LOOP_LAUNCHERS_DIR
• LOOP_PLIST_DIR
• LOOP_JOBS_FILE
• LOOP_BACKEND
• LOOP_COMMAND_TEMPLATE
• LOOP_AGENT_BIN
• LOOP_AGENT_EXEC_ARGS
• LOOP_CODEX_BIN
• LOOP_CODEX_EXEC_ARGS
• LOOP_DISPATCH_INTERVAL_SECONDS
• LOOP_LOCK_TIMEOUT_SECONDS
• LOOP_LOCK_STALE_SECONDS

These are especially useful for dry-run tests in a temp directory.

Notes

• Scheduled jobs create fresh Codex executions. They do not resume the same live interactive turn.
• $loop is a scheduler surface, not a Stop-hook continuation surface.
• same-session continuation is currently not published here as a shared skill; do not promise it through $loop
• if the user asks for same-session looping, be explicit that $loop is not equivalent to Claude's session-scoped scheduled tasks
• cmux autopilot also uses Stop hooks, so loop must stay separate from that channel.
• Registry writes are lock-protected so concurrent add/run/remove flows do not clobber jobs.json.
• Per-job run locks prevent overlapping scheduled executions for the same job.
• Parser coverage is deterministic only for the supported shorthand and command patterns above. If a request is highly conversational, parse it with parse-request.py first and inspect the JSON before scheduling anything live.
• Keep $loop separate from repo-local autopilot and other Stop-hook designs.