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