autonomous-loops

Autonomous Loops Skill

Compatibility note (v1.8.0): autonomous-loops is retained for one release. The canonical skill name is now continuous-agent-loop. New loop guidance should be authored there, while this skill remains available to avoid breaking existing workflows.

Patterns, architectures, and reference implementations for running Claude Code autonomously in loops. Covers everything from simple claude -p pipelines to full RFC-driven multi-agent DAG orchestration.

When to Use

• Setting up autonomous development workflows that run without human intervention
• Choosing the right loop architecture for your problem (simple vs complex)
• Building CI/CD-style continuous development pipelines
• Running parallel agents with merge coordination
• Implementing context persistence across loop iterations
• Adding quality gates and cleanup passes to autonomous workflows

Loop Pattern Spectrum

From simplest to most sophisticated:

Pattern	Complexity	Best For
Sequential Pipeline	Low	Daily dev steps, scripted workflows
NanoClaw REPL	Low	Interactive persistent sessions
Infinite Agentic Loop	Medium	Parallel content generation, spec-driven work
Continuous Claude PR Loop	Medium	Multi-day iterative projects with CI gates
De-Sloppify Pattern	Add-on	Quality cleanup after any Implementer step

1. Sequential Pipeline (claude -p)

Core Insight

Startup-config safety: add --bare in any checkout you do not control

Untrusted / unattended: skip the checkout's startup surface entirely.

daily-dev.sh — Sequential pipeline for a feature branch

Step 1: Implement the feature

Step 2: De-sloppify (cleanup pass)

Step 3: Verify

Step 4: Commit

Key Design Principles

Variations