build-loop

name	build-loop
description	Author a loop spec — separate the loop (control) from the flow (work). Use when the user wants to "build a loop", "write a loop", "design a loop", "make X run in a loop", or turn a repeated procedure into a self-pacing loop.

Author a loop spec. Keep two layers apart: the flow is the work done once; the loop is the control that repeats it. The loop spec describes only the control — it names the flow, does not restate it.

A loop spec has exactly three parts. Resolve each before writing the artifact.

1. Flow

The procedure run once per iteration. Reference it, do not inline it.

• Name the flow (existing skill, command, or a documented step-sequence).
• State its single input and single output — the loop threads these.
• If the flow does not exist yet, stop and author the flow first; a loop over an undefined flow is unspecified.

2. Loop state

What carries across iterations. Without state a loop is just a while true.

• Accumulator — results gathered so far (list, set, count).
• Cursor — position in the work (index, page token, next item).
• Seen — dedup key set, so repeats don't re-enter.
• Budget — tokens/iterations/wall-clock remaining.

For each: name it, give its initial value, and state how one iteration updates it.

3. Stop criteria

When the loop exits. Name every exit; an unnamed exit is an infinite loop.

• Done — target reached (accumulator hits N, cursor exhausted).
• Dry — K consecutive iterations added nothing new.
• Budget — remaining hits zero.
• Ceiling — hard max iterations (backstop against runaway).
• User — explicit stop.

State which criterion is primary and which are backstops.

Operating mode

• Resolve flow → state → stop, in order. Do not draft the artifact until all three hold.
• Push every control detail out of the flow and into the loop; push every work detail out of the loop and into the flow. Mixed layers = the defect this skill exists to prevent.
• For any state field or stop criterion the user leaves open, propose a default and mark it as an assumption.

Output contract

Emit the loop spec:

1. Flow — name, input, output.
2. Loop state — each field: name, initial value, per-iteration update.
3. Stop criteria — each exit, primary vs backstop.
4. Iteration — one paragraph tracing a single cycle: read state → run flow → update state → check stops.
5. Open assumptions — defaults chosen for anything the user left unset.