continue-loop

Continue Loop

Use this skill to keep making progress without waiting for the user to spell out every step. Treat the loop as a sequence of small, verified passes, not a license to thrash.

Workflow

1. Establish the bounds.
   • Respect any explicit scope, count, stop condition, or quality bar from the user.
   • If the user gave no bound, keep going until you hit a real blocker, diminishing returns, or a clean handoff point worth surfacing.
2. Initialize or resume the loop state.
   • Resolve SKILL_DIR to the directory containing this SKILL.md.
   • Run:

python3 "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/continue_loop.py" start --cwd "$PWD"

• Add --goal "..." when the user gave a concrete objective worth preserving.
• Reuse the existing state file unless the user clearly wants a fresh loop.

3. Ask the core question.
   • Run:

python3 "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/continue_loop.py" next --cwd "$PWD"

• Answer: What is the next logical step to focus on next?
• Consider only a few concrete candidates. Pick the step that best matches user intent, dependency order, and narrow verification.

4. Do the work.
   • Read the relevant code, tests, docs, and repo instructions first.
   • Implement the chosen step fully enough to verify it.
   • Prefer finishing one seam cleanly over opening several half-done branches.
5. Verify before claiming progress.
   • Run the smallest meaningful proof for the area you changed.
   • If the repo requires screenshots for UI work, take them.
6. Record the pass.
   • Run:

python3 "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/continue_loop.py" record \
  --cwd "$PWD" \
  --focus "Short name of the step you just completed" \
  --summary "What changed and why" \
  --verification "Exact command(s) or checks you ran"

• Add --next-hint "..." if the current pass revealed an obvious follow-up.
• Use --status blocked only when you truly cannot proceed safely.

7. Decide whether to continue.
   • Continue immediately when there is another clear, valuable step.
   • Stop when the next step would be speculative, too risky for reasonable assumptions, or requires a user decision.
   • When stopping, run:

python3 "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/continue_loop.py" stop \
  --cwd "$PWD" \
  --reason "Why the loop should stop here"

Choosing The Next Step

Rank candidate steps against:

• dependency order
• user-stated goals
• architectural leverage
• likelihood of unblocking later work
• risk of breaking unrelated behavior
• cost of focused verification
• signal from failing tests, TODOs, logs, profiler output, or unfinished seams

Prefer:

• steps that unblock more work later
• deleting dead paths over adding compatibility or fallback layers
• finishing an in-flight change before hopping elsewhere
• narrow proofs over broad "maybe everything still works" runs
• small passes that can be explained in one or two sentences

Avoid:

• bouncing between unrelated areas
• speculative rewrites without evidence
• analysis-only loops when you can implement
• broad validation churn before the local change is stable
• infinite looping after the work has clearly reached a pause point

Script Notes

• The helper script stores loop state under $CODEX_HOME/state/continue-loop by default so the repo stays clean.
• Override the location with --state-file /path/to/state.json when you want an explicit shared log.
• Use status to inspect the current loop summary:

python3 "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/continue_loop.py" status --cwd "$PWD"

• The state log is there to keep the loop honest. It should help you avoid repeating the same step or forgetting why the last pass stopped.