Recurring Prompt Loop

/loop — run a prompt repeatedly

Subcommands

If the input (after stripping the /loop prefix) is exactly one of these keywords, run the subcommand instead of scheduling:

• list — call CronList and display the results. Done.
• clear — call CronList, then call CronDelete for every job returned. Confirm how many were cancelled. Done.

Parsing

Parse the input after removing the /loop prefix:

1. Empty input (no prompt, no interval): the autonomous path — run a self-paced autonomous loop. See the Autonomous mode section.
2. Leading interval token: if the first whitespace-delimited token matches ^\d+[smhd]$ (e.g. 5m, 2h), this is the fixed-interval recurring path. The rest is the prompt.
3. Trailing "every" clause: otherwise, if the input ends with every <N><unit> or every <N> <unit-word> (e.g. every 20m, every 5 minutes, every 2 hours), this is the fixed-interval recurring path. Extract that interval and strip it from the prompt. Only match when what follows "every" is a time expression — check every PR has no interval.
4. Prompt-only input: otherwise, the entire input is the prompt and this is the prompt-only self-paced path.

If an interval was given but the prompt is empty (e.g. /loop 5m), this is a fixed-interval autonomous loop — see the Autonomous mode section.

Examples:

• 5m /babysit-prs → fixed interval 5m, prompt /babysit-prs (leading interval token)
• check the deploy every 20m → fixed interval 20m, prompt check the deploy (trailing "every" clause)
• run tests every 5 minutes → fixed interval 5m, prompt run tests (trailing "every" clause)
• check every PR → prompt-only self-paced path, prompt check every PR ("every" is not followed by a time expression)
• check the deploy → prompt-only self-paced path, prompt check the deploy
• (empty) → self-paced autonomous loop (sentinel <<autonomous-loop-dynamic>>)
• 5m → fixed-interval autonomous loop (interval 5m, sentinel <<autonomous-loop>>)

Prompt-only self-paced path

Use this path only when the user supplied a prompt and no interval.

1. Do not call CronCreate for this path.
2. If this tick opens with a <task-notification> block (a monitor or background event re-invoked you, not a bare /loop wakeup prompt), handle that event before re-running the prompt.
   • If the notification says the watched condition was met, cancel any pending fallback LoopWakeup with CronDelete if you still have its ID, then finish the loop.
   • If a monitor auto-stopped on idle or max-events, restart it once if the watch is still useful, re-arm the fallback, report the restart count to the user, and include that count in the LoopWakeup prompt or reason (for example, monitor restarted 1/1 time) so it survives context compaction. If it auto-stops again on the next tick, end the loop and report the repeated auto-stop to the user.
   • If the signal is ambiguous, re-arm a shorter follow-up and investigate on the next tick. If the signal remains ambiguous for three consecutive ticks, end the loop and report that the watch could not reach a clear conclusion.
3. Run the parsed prompt immediately now.
   • If it is a slash command, invoke it via the Skill tool.
   • Otherwise, act on it directly.
4. Before ending the turn, decide whether another check is useful.
   • Call LoopWakeup only if continued follow-up is useful.
   • Do not call LoopWakeup if the task is complete.
   • Do not call LoopWakeup if the task is blocked on user input or external state that cannot be checked later.
   • Do not call LoopWakeup just to keep polling when no useful next check exists.
   • If you started a background agent or a Monitor, it wakes you via a terminal <task-notification> on exit, failure, cancellation, or monitor auto-stop — so set LoopWakeup as a long fallback rather than a short poll. Do not omit it just because something is watching: the work may hang, or a Monitor may auto-stop on idle or max-events (and one owned by another agent routes its notification only to that agent). Omit LoopWakeup only on the terminal conditions above (complete, blocked, or repeated monitor auto-stop).
5. When scheduling a continuation, call LoopWakeup with:
   • delaySeconds: the next useful delay in seconds. The runtime clamps to 60–3600 (1–60 min); follow the tool's own guidance on picking a value — it accounts for the prompt-cache window and for the fallback-heartbeat case when a background task will wake you.
   • prompt: /loop ${original prompt} plus any state the next tick must preserve, such as monitor restarted 1/1 time.
   • reason: a short reason for the chosen delay. Include the monitor restart count here when re-arming after an auto-stop.
6. Briefly tell the user what was done now. If a wakeup was scheduled, include when the next check is expected. If no wakeup was scheduled because a notification ended the loop, mention whether the stale fallback was cancelled; if the wakeup ID was lost, ignore or answer the stale wakeup briefly when it fires.

Fixed-interval recurring path

Use this path only for inputs with a leading interval token or a trailing "every" clause.

Interval to cron

Supported suffixes: s (seconds, rounded up to nearest minute, min 1), m (minutes), h (hours), d (days). Convert:

If the interval does not cleanly divide its unit (for example 7m gives uneven gaps at :56 to :00, or 90m is 1.5 hours which cron cannot express), pick the nearest clean interval and tell the user what you rounded to before scheduling.