mike-diff /loop patterns per agent
The /loop command runs a prompt or slash command on a recurring interval, or self-paces via ScheduleWakeup when no interval is given. These patterns match the responsibilities of the five agents in .claude/agents/.
explorer — periodic codebase crawl
Best when the codebase shifts rapidly (active development, frequent merges).
/loop 15m Explore changes since the last crawl and append new findings to .context/explorer-notes.md
Cadence: 10–30 minutes. Good for: pre-implementation recon during long discussions.
implementer — self-paced watch-build
When implementing a long feature across many edits. Omit the interval so ScheduleWakeup picks delays based on build duration.
/loop Continue building the current feature spec; after each iteration, run the project's build and paste any new errors into the next prompt.
Cadence: self-paced. Good for: large spec phases, CI-heavy projects.
reviewer — post-edit incremental review
/loop 20m Review all files modified since the last review pass and flag any that violate `.claude/rules/coding-standards.md`.
Cadence: 15–30 minutes. Good for: keeping a running review in parallel with implementer.
qa — watch-test loop
/loop 5m Run the project's test command; if any fail, message the implementer with the full failure output.
Cadence: 5–15 minutes. Good for: active red-green TDD sessions.
skill-author — TDD drip
Uncommon; used during long skill authoring when the baseline test suite is slow.
/loop Re-run the skill baseline test after each edit to .claude/skills/<name>/SKILL.md.
Cadence: self-paced. Good for: multi-file skill authoring.
spec phases — goal-gated cross-phase walk
Solo (no agent team), one session, auto-advance each phase only after its Goal Condition is met:
/loop Set /goal to the next not-yet-done phase's Goal Condition from @.context/specs/spec-[name].md; when /goal reports "Goal achieved", commit, then advance. Stop when the last phase's goal is achieved.
/loop re-runs the prompt in the same session; /goal is the per-phase completion judge that /loop lacks. They're independent — /goal can't invoke /loop, so the loop prompt re-sets the goal each iteration. Prefer /dev @<spec> (sweep) for hands-off team runs; use this for solo single-session control.
Cadence: self-paced. Good for: solo spec implementation without an agent team.
Bare /loop and loop.md
A bare /loop (no prompt) runs a maintenance prompt at a self-paced interval:
Claude Code uses .claude/loop.md if the project ships one (falling back to
~/.claude/loop.md, then the built-in prompt of continue-unfinished-work /
tend-the-PR / cleanup). Ship a .claude/loop.md in the project to tune the
pass to its own validation scripts. Supplying any prompt on the command line
bypasses the file.
Not recommended
- Running
/loopon one-shot tasks — starts a recurring process that outlives the task - Cadences under 60 seconds — the runtime clamps
delaySecondsto [60, 3600] - Loops that accumulate unbounded context — pair with summarize-and-reset instructions