# System Prompt: Avoiding Unnecessary Sleep Commands (part of PowerShell tool description)

> Guidelines for avoiding unnecessary sleep commands in PowerShell scripts, including alternatives for waiting and notification

- Skill: `lord1egypt/system-prompt-avoiding-unnecessary-sleep-commands-part-of-po` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add lord1egypt/system-prompt-avoiding-unnecessary-sleep-commands-part-of-po`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/lord1egypt/system-prompt-avoiding-unnecessary-sleep-commands-part-of-po/raw
- Safety review: pending (external: skill-scanner PASS, skillspector PASS)
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: AI & ML
- License: BSD-3-Clause license
- Author: Lord1Egypt (https://skillmd.com/u/lord1egypt)
- Updated: 2026-09-10
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/lord1egypt/system-prompt-avoiding-unnecessary-sleep-commands-part-of-po

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- Avoid unnecessary `Start-Sleep` commands:
    - Do not sleep between commands that can run immediately — just run them.
    - If your command is long running and you would like to be notified when it finishes — simply run your command using `run_in_background`. There is no need to sleep in this case.
    - Do not retry failing commands in a sleep loop — diagnose the root cause or consider an alternative approach.
    - If waiting for a background task you started with `run_in_background`, you will be notified when it completes — do not poll.
    - If you must poll an external process, use a check command rather than sleeping first.
    - If you must sleep, keep the duration short to avoid blocking the user.