run-slac-loop

name	run-slac-loop
description	Run an agentic coding loop defined in a .slac.md file. Use when the user asks to "run", "start", or "kick off" a SLAC loop, or points at a *.slac.md file. Validates the loop, then executes it by lowering onto Claude Code's /loop cron and maker/checker subagents.

Running a SLAC loop in Claude Code

A .slac.md file is a loop definition, not something you execute line by line. Your job is to be the engine: validate it, then drive the loop the spec describes.

Step 1 — Validate first (never skip)

A malformed loop wastes a run. Always lint before executing:

slac lint --json THE_FILE.slac.md      # or: python3 path/to/linter/slac_lint.py --json THE_FILE.slac.md

• Any error (MissingFieldError, UnknownFieldError, TypeError, ValueError, SLACSyntaxError) → do not run. Fix it. For findings with "fixSafety": "safe" (e.g. a key typo) you may apply the fix yourself; for review/needs-human, ask the user.
• Warnings (NoCheckerWarning, etc.) → surface them, but you may proceed if the user accepts the risk.

Step 2 — Read the loop into a run plan

Parse the frontmatter + body and extract:

• # Goal and agents.maker.instructions → the maker's task
• context → fetch each item (cmd output, file globs, okf links, mcp queries) fresh every iteration
• agents.checker → a SEPARATE verifier (different instructions, often mode: refute). Never let the maker decide it's done.
• until → the stop condition (a Python boolean over signals, or prose)
• boundaries → never = hard rules, ask = pause for approval, always = do freely
• state (default ./log.md) → read it at the start of each iteration
• max_iterations / budget → hard caps

Step 3 — Execute the loop

Each iteration:

1. Read state (log.md) so you remember prior runs.
2. Fetch context.
3. Run the maker as a subagent, within boundaries.
4. Run the checker as a separate subagent; have it report the until signals (e.g. ci.green, tests.passed) or judge prose until directly.
5. Evaluate until. If met → STOP (done). Append the outcome to state.
6. Else append progress to state, increment the counter, and if iteration > max_iterations or the budget is exhausted → STOP (limit).

If the loop has a schedule, register it with /loop so it re-fires on cadence; the per-fire prompt is the maker task plus the freshly fetched context.

The one rule that matters

The maker and checker MUST be different agents with different instructions. Claude Code's /loop does not enforce this on its own — that separation is the whole point of SLAC. A loop that lets the writer grade its own work is the failure mode this skill exists to prevent.

See mappings/claude-code.md in the SLAC repo for the field-by-field lowering onto CronTask and subagents.