majiayu000 Cancel Loop
Gracefully terminate an active loop while preserving all completed work.
When to Use
| Situation | Action |
|---|---|
| Need to change direction | Cancel, then start new loop with updated spec |
| Spec was wrong | Cancel, clarify with /hope:intent, restart |
| Good enough | Cancel when partial progress is sufficient |
| Taking too long | Cancel to review approach before continuing |
| Emergency stop | Cancel immediately halts next iteration |
Cancel vs Natural Completion
- Natural completion: Loop satisfied spec, clean exit with success summary
- Cancel: User-initiated stop, preserves progress, enables restart
Cancel when you want control back. Let it complete when spec is being satisfied.
What Happens
- Read state — Load
.loop/state.json - Set status — Update status to
"cancelled"in state file - Find active task — TaskList for in_progress task (subject starts with "Loop:")
- Mark terminated — TaskUpdate status=completed with cancellation note
- Report state — Iterations, cost, accomplished work, remaining items
Current iteration completes before cancel takes effect. No mid-operation interruption.
State File Update (Required)
Update .loop/state.json:
{
"status": "cancelled",
"exit_signal": false
}
This ensures the stop hook allows the cancellation to proceed.
Output
Loop cancelled.
Completed: [N] iterations, $[X] cost
Accomplished:
- [list of completed steps]
Remaining:
- [list of incomplete steps]
Criteria status:
- [criterion 1]: ✓/✗
- [criterion 2]: ✓/✗
To restart: /loop [spec]
Guarantees
- All completed work preserved (no rollback)
- State file updated to prevent resume
- Clean termination (no dangling state)
- Full accounting (iterations, cost, progress)
- Restart possible with same or modified spec