repeat-with-delay

name	repeat-with-delay
description	Execute repeated shell commands as separate tool calls with a delay between each iteration. Use when a user asks to run something N times, wait between runs, increment a counter each cycle, and see each iteration result before the next run.

Repeat With Delay

Run one command at a time as individual tool calls so each iteration is visible in the transcript.

Required Execution Model

1. Determine loop parameters from the request:

• iterations (default 10)
• delay-seconds (default 2)
• start (default 1)
• command (default echo "$LOOP_COUNTER")

2. Execute iterations sequentially using separate tool calls:

• For each iteration, run one command tool call.
• Export the loop counter to that single call:

LOOP_COUNTER=<value> bash -lc '<command using $LOOP_COUNTER>'

• Show that tool call result before continuing.

3. If not on the final iteration and delay is greater than zero, run a separate sleep tool call:

sleep <delay-seconds>

4. Continue until iteration N is done. Do not batch iterations into one shell loop when the user wants per-iteration visibility.

Example Mapping

For "run 10 times and delay for 2 seconds between each", execute:

• 10 separate command tool calls (LOOP_COUNTER=1 to LOOP_COUNTER=10)
• 9 separate sleep tool calls (sleep 2) between runs

For "echo a number starting at 1 and increment each time":

LOOP_COUNTER=1 bash -lc 'echo "$LOOP_COUNTER"'
LOOP_COUNTER=2 bash -lc 'echo "$LOOP_COUNTER"'
...

Notes

• Keep loop execution sequential; do not parallelize iterations unless explicitly requested.
• Preserve command failures; if one iteration fails, stop and report the failing iteration.
• Optional fallback script exists at scripts/run_repeat_with_delay.sh, but use it only if the user explicitly asks for one single wrapper command.