| name | loop-guardrails |
| description | Enforces safety guardrails for the Ralph Wiggum Loop: iteration limits, path restrictions, diff size limits, and validation gates. Use this skill when checking if a loop operation is within safety bounds or when configuring loop safety parameters.
|
Loop Guardrails Skill
This skill enforces safety boundaries for Ralph Wiggum Loop operations.
Guardrail Types
1. Iteration Limits
- Max iterations: Configurable in
LOOP_CONFIG.md (default: 20)
- Timeout per iteration: Configurable (default: 10 minutes)
- Hard-stop at max iterations prevents runaway loops
2. Path Restrictions
- Allowed paths: Glob patterns in
LOOP_CONFIG.md restricting where the agent can write
- Restricted paths: Files the agent must never modify (e.g.,
.env, lock files)
- Violations are caught pre-commit
3. Diff Size Limits
- Max lines changed per iteration: Configurable (default: 200)
- Prevents sweeping changes that are hard to review
- Large diffs suggest the task should be decomposed further
4. Validation Gates
- Required commands: Tests, builds, lints that must pass after each iteration
- If validation fails, the task is marked
[!] (failed) in TASKS.md
- Prevents broken states from persisting
5. Anti-Gaming Rules
- Test files cannot be deleted
- Lint suppression comments cannot be added in bulk
- Type safety cannot be weakened (no bulk
any casts)
Check Command
bash .github/skills/loop-guardrails/check-guardrails.sh
This validates the current state of changes against all configured guardrails.
Integration
Pre-commit Hook
Install the pre-commit hook to automatically validate guardrails:
bash hooks/setup-hooks.sh
This copies the guardrail check into .git/hooks/pre-commit.
Manual Check
Run at any time to verify the current changes are within bounds:
bash .github/skills/loop-guardrails/check-guardrails.sh --verbose
Configuration
All guardrail settings live in LOOP_CONFIG.md. The skill reads this file to determine limits.
Emergency Stop
To immediately halt the loop, create a .loop-stop file:
touch .loop-stop
The loop runner checks for this file between iterations.
