Daemon Loop

Daemon Loop — Autonomous Agent Infrastructure

Source: Boris Cherny (Claude Code creator), X thread 2026-03-30 (CS-560) Pattern: "Turn workflows into skills, then loop them."

Core Concept

Traditional Athena workflows are pull-based — user triggers /start, /audit, /reindex manually. Daemon loops are push-based — they run autonomously at set intervals without user invocation.

This is the difference between a tool and infrastructure.

When to Use

Architecture

Option A: Cron + Headless Agent (Current-Compatible)

For environments where the agent platform supports CLI invocation:

# Example: reindex every hour
0 * * * * cd ./project && claude --bare -p "/reindex" 2>&1 >> .agent/temp/daemon.log

# Example: workspace hygiene daily at 4am
0 4 * * * cd ./project && claude --bare -p "/needful" 2>&1 >> .agent/temp/daemon.log

Key: --bare flag skips full context loading for speed. Only load what the specific daemon needs.

Option B: In-Session Loop (Manual Trigger)

When cron is unavailable, run a daemon within an active session:

User: "Loop /reindex every 60 minutes for the next 8 hours"
Agent: [Executes /reindex, sleeps 60m, repeats 8x]

Constraint: Requires an active session. Prefer Option A for true autonomy.

Option C: Async-Dev Integration

Combine with /async-dev (Sleeper Agent Protocol):

1. User sets up daemon tasks before sleeping
2. Agent executes loop overnight
3. Morning: user reads STATUS.md for results

Daemon Registration

Track active daemons in .agent/temp/daemons.json:

{
  "daemons": [
    {
      "name": "memory-sync",
      "workflow": "/reindex",
      "interval": "60m",
      "last_run": "2026-03-31T01:00:00+08:00",
      "status": "active",
      "bare": true
    }
  ]
}

Safety Rules

• CAN: Run read-only or idempotent workflows (reindex, audit, check, dream)
• CAN: Write to .agent/temp/ and .context/ directories
• CANNOT: Commit, push, or mutate source code without explicit user pre-authorization
• CANNOT: Run workflows that require interactive user input
• CANNOT: Exceed 8-hour autonomous window without checkpoint
• BLOCKING BUDGET: Any single daemon action that would block for >15 seconds must be deferred (stolen from KAIROS)

Boris Cherny's Live Examples (Reference)

Migration Path

1. Phase 1 (Now): Define which workflows are daemon-eligible
2. Phase 2: Write cron entries or use platform-native scheduling
3. Phase 3: Build .agent/temp/daemons.json registry for state tracking
4. Phase 4: Add /daemon workflow for CRUD operations on active daemons

References

• /async-dev — Sleeper Agent Protocol
• /needful — Autonomous best-judgment action
• /reindex — Supabase memory sync