auto-loop

Auto-Loop

Execute a TDD-based autonomous development loop with full observability.

Usage

# Start new task
/auto-loop "Implement user login"

# With acceptance criteria
/auto-loop "Implement authentication

Acceptance Criteria:
- [ ] Login form (email + password)
- [ ] JWT token generation
- [ ] Error handling
"

# Resume interrupted session
/auto-loop --resume

# Force restart (clear old state)
/auto-loop --force "New task"

# Check status
/auto-loop --status

# With iteration limit
/auto-loop "Task" --max-iterations 15

How It Works

┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                      TDD Iteration                            │
├───────────┬───────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  RED      │ Write failing test for next AC                    │
│           │ → Auto-logged: file_created, test_fail            │
├───────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  GREEN    │ Write implementation to make test pass            │
│           │ → Auto-logged: file_created/modified, test_pass   │
├───────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  REFACTOR │ Improve code quality (no behavior change)         │
│           │ → Use code-reviewer agent for suggestions         │
├───────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  VALIDATE │ Run full test suite + linter                      │
│           │ → Auto-logged: test_pass/fail                     │
├───────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  COMMIT   │ Commit changes with descriptive message           │
│           │ → Auto-logged: commit                             │
├───────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  DECIDE   │ Check AC completion → continue or complete        │
└───────────┴───────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Execution

When user runs /auto-loop "<request>":

1. State Detection (Conflict Prevention)

STATE_DIR=".auto-loop"
CHECKPOINT="$STATE_DIR/checkpoint.json"

# Check for existing in-progress session
if [ -f "$CHECKPOINT" ]; then
    status=$(jq -r '.status // "unknown"' "$CHECKPOINT" 2>/dev/null || echo "unknown")
    iteration=$(jq -r '.current_iteration // 0' "$CHECKPOINT" 2>/dev/null || echo "0")

    if [ "$status" == "in_progress" ]; then
        echo "⚠️  Found interrupted session at iteration #$iteration"
        echo "Options:"
        echo "  /auto-loop --resume        → Continue"
        echo "  /auto-loop --force \"...\"  → Start fresh"
        exit 1
    fi
fi

Behavior Matrix:

| Existing State | Command | Action | |----------------|---------|--------| | None | /auto-loop "task" | Start new | | completed | /auto-loop "task" | Archive & start new | | in_progress | /auto-loop "task" | Block - prompt user | | in_progress | /auto-loop --resume | Continue | | in_progress | /auto-loop --force "task" | Archive & start new |

2. Initialize

# Archive old changelog if > 100 lines
CHANGELOG_DIR=".director-mode"
CHANGELOG="$CHANGELOG_DIR/changelog.jsonl"

if [ -f "$CHANGELOG" ] && [ $(wc -l < "$CHANGELOG") -gt 100 ]; then
    mv "$CHANGELOG" "$CHANGELOG_DIR/changelog.$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S).jsonl"
fi

# Create state directories
mkdir -p "$STATE_DIR" "$CHANGELOG_DIR"

# Initialize checkpoint
cat > "$CHECKPOINT" << EOF
{
  "request": "$ARGUMENTS",
  "current_iteration": 0,
  "max_iterations": 20,
  "status": "in_progress",
  "started_at": "$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)",
  "acceptance_criteria": [],
  "last_test_result": null,
  "files_changed": []
}
EOF

3. Parse Acceptance Criteria

Input:
  "Implement authentication

  Acceptance Criteria:
  - [ ] Login form
  - [ ] JWT token
  "

Parsed:
{
  "acceptance_criteria": [
    { "id": 1, "description": "Login form", "done": false },
    { "id": 2, "description": "JWT token", "done": false }
  ]
}

4. DECIDE - Completion Check

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  DECIDE - Iteration #3                                      │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  [x] 1. Login form            ← test passing               │
│  [x] 2. JWT token             ← test passing               │
│  [ ] 3. Error handling        ← NO TEST YET                │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Decision: 2/3 complete → CONTINUE                          │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Complete when:

• All AC marked done: true
• All tests passing

Stop when:

• max_iterations reached
• .auto-loop/stop file exists

Flags

| Flag | Description | |------|-------------| | --resume | Continue interrupted session | | --force | Clear old state, start fresh | | --status | Show current session status | | --max-iterations N | Set iteration limit (default: 20) |

Observability

All events are automatically logged via PostToolUse hooks:

| Event | Trigger | Hook | |-------|---------|------| | file_created | Write tool | log-file-change.sh | | file_modified | Edit tool | log-file-change.sh | | test_pass/fail | Bash (test) | log-bash-event.sh | | commit | Bash (git commit) | log-bash-event.sh |

Query with /changelog:

/changelog              # Recent events
/changelog --summary    # Statistics
/changelog --type test  # Filter by type

Stop / Resume

# Interrupt (stop after current iteration)
touch .auto-loop/stop

# Check status
/auto-loop --status

# Resume
/auto-loop --resume

# Force restart
/auto-loop --force "New task"

Related

• [/changelog](../changelog/SKILL.md) - View development events
• [code-reviewer](../../agents/code-reviewer.md) - Code quality review
• [debugger](../../agents/debugger.md) - Error analysis
• [test-runner](../test-runner/SKILL.md) - Test automation