autoloop: Start Skill | Agent Skills

autoloop: Start

Scaffold LOOP_CONTRACT.md and start a self-revising /loop that reads the contract each firing.

Self-Evolving Skill: This skill improves through use. If instructions are wrong, parameters drifted, or a workaround was needed — fix this file immediately, don't defer. Only update for real, reproducible issues.

Arguments

Positional (optional): contract file path. Defaults to ./LOOP_CONTRACT.md.

Step 1: Ensure hooks are installed

Install BOTH autoloop hooks into ~/.claude/settings.json if not already present. Idempotent.

PostToolUse → heartbeat-tick.sh — ticks heartbeat on every tool invocation, detects cwd drift.
SessionStart → session-bind.sh — authoritatively binds owner_session_id from stdin payload (replaces broken $CLAUDE_SESSION_ID env-var capture; ref anthropics/claude-code#47018).
PreToolUse(ScheduleWakeup) → pacing-veto.sh — denies pacing-disguised wakers (delays in the 300–1199s cache-miss zone, or any >270s with token-budget/cache-warm/self-pacing/cooldown/rest in the reason text). Forces Tier 0 (in-turn) when no real external blocker exists.

# Source the hook install library
PLUGIN_ROOT="${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT:-$HOME/.claude/plugins/marketplaces/cc-skills/plugins/autoloop}"
source "$PLUGIN_ROOT/scripts/hook-install-lib.sh"

# Wave 5 A4: strip macOS quarantine xattrs in case this is the first run
# after `claude plugin marketplace add`. No-op on Linux / clean trees.
strip_plugin_quarantine_xattrs "$PLUGIN_ROOT" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true

# Wave 5 A8: explicit "auto-setup-on-start". If neither hook is installed,
# announce that we're running first-time setup before the install_all_hooks
# call so the user understands the side effect. If both are already
# installed, stay quiet — there's nothing to surface.
SETTINGS_PATH="$HOME/.claude/settings.json"
if [ "$(is_hook_installed "$SETTINGS_PATH" 2>/dev/null)" != "yes" ] || \
   [ "$(is_session_bind_installed "$SETTINGS_PATH" 2>/dev/null)" != "yes" ]; then
  echo "Installing autoloop hooks into ~/.claude/settings.json (one-time setup)..."
fi

# Install all four autoloop hooks (idempotent). DO NOT swallow stderr —
# install_all_hooks emits actionable diagnostics on failure (malformed JSON,
# write errors, missing hook scripts) that the user needs to see. If install
# fails, abort the bootstrap rather than continuing into a half-bootstrapped
# state where the loop appears registered but session-bind / heartbeat /
# pacing-veto / empty-firing-detector never run.
if ! install_all_hooks; then
  echo "ERROR: Failed to install autoloop hooks." >&2
  echo "  The bootstrap cannot continue safely — a registered loop without" >&2
  echo "  its hooks installed is what /autoloop:tinker calls F2_missing_hooks." >&2
  echo "  Inspect: jq . $SETTINGS_PATH ; ls $PLUGIN_ROOT/hooks/" >&2
  exit 1
fi

# Wave 6 anti-fragility (v12.52.0+): runtime self-test the just-installed
# hooks. Without this, a hook can be registered in settings.json yet crash
# on real invocation due to: missing shebang, broken shellcheck disable,
# stale path to a sibling lib, syntax error from a botched edit, missing
# dependency. The self-test catches those by feeding each hook a synthetic
# Claude Code event payload in a sandbox HOME and asserting exit 0.
if ! run_hook_runtime_selftest "$PLUGIN_ROOT" 2>&1; then
  echo "ERROR: Autoloop hook runtime self-test failed." >&2
  echo "  Hooks were registered in settings.json but at least one crashes" >&2
  echo "  on invocation. Inspect the FAIL line(s) above." >&2
  echo "  Recover: /autoloop:tinker will redo the install with diagnostics." >&2
  exit 1
fi

Result: every Claude session opening in a registered loop's contract dir will (1) bind to the loop on SessionStart, then (2) tick heartbeat with cwd-drift detection on every tool invocation.

Step 2: Preflight (v2 layout — `.autoloop/<slug>--<hash>/CONTRACT.md`)

Wave 3 introduced a new on-disk layout: contracts live under <project_cwd>/.autoloop/<campaign-slug>--<short-hash>/CONTRACT.md with a sibling state/ directory. This makes multi-campaign coexistence in one cwd first-class and lets any AI agent ID the right contract by directory name.

Migration is automatic on first /autoloop:start in any directory that contains a legacy <cwd>/LOOP_CONTRACT.md:

PROJECT_CWD="${1:-$(pwd -P)}"
PLUGIN_ROOT="${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT:-$HOME/.claude/plugins/marketplaces/cc-skills/plugins/autoloop}"
source "$PLUGIN_ROOT/scripts/registry-lib.sh"
source "$PLUGIN_ROOT/scripts/state-lib.sh"

# Returns "noop" if nothing to migrate, or two lines starting with
# "migrated_to_loop_id:" / "migrated_to_path:" on success.
MIGRATION_OUTPUT=$(migrate_legacy_contract "$PROJECT_CWD" "${CLAUDE_SESSION_ID:-$$-$(date +%s)}")
if [ "$MIGRATION_OUTPUT" != "noop" ]; then
  echo "$MIGRATION_OUTPUT"
  echo "Legacy LOOP_CONTRACT.md migrated to .autoloop/ subdir; resuming with new layout."
fi

Then check whether ANY v2 contract already exists for this project:

existing=$(compgen -G "$PROJECT_CWD/.autoloop/*--[0-9a-f][0-9a-f][0-9a-f][0-9a-f][0-9a-f][0-9a-f]/CONTRACT.md" 2>/dev/null || true)
if [ -n "$existing" ]; then
  echo "v2 contract(s) present:"
  echo "$existing"
  # Ask the user: resume an existing campaign, start a new one alongside, or stop?
fi

Use AskUserQuestion to choose: resume existing, start new campaign alongside (creates a second .autoloop/<slug>--<hash>/), or stop.

Step 3: Collect contract inputs

Use AskUserQuestion to collect:

1. name        — short slug for this loop (e.g. "odb-research", "flaky-ci-watcher")
2. scope       — one-line Core Directive describing the long-horizon goal
3. cadence     — typical wake-up cadence hint (continuous | event-driven | hourly | daily)

The contract path is derived deterministically from name + a stable short_hash, so the user does not pick a path:

SLUG=$(slugify "$NAME_INPUT")
SHORT_HASH=$(compute_short_hash "${CLAUDE_SESSION_ID:-$$-$(date +%s)}" "$(date -u +%s)")
CONTRACT_DIR="$PROJECT_CWD/.autoloop/${SLUG}--${SHORT_HASH}"
CONTRACT_PATH="$CONTRACT_DIR/CONTRACT.md"
mkdir -p "$CONTRACT_DIR/state/revision-log"

If $CONTRACT_DIR already exists, append a numeric suffix to short_hash or ask the user to pick a different name.

Step 4: Scaffold the contract

Copy the plugin-shipped template and substitute placeholders. Use $CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT (set by Claude Code for every plugin skill) to resolve the template — do not use $0, which is not set when a SKILL.md is loaded as instructions rather than executed as a script.

# CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT points at /…/plugins/<plugin-name> when invoked from
# a skill. Fall back to the marketplace cache path if unset (e.g., when a
# user invokes the skill's Bash manually outside the harness).
PLUGIN_ROOT="${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT:-$HOME/.claude/plugins/marketplaces/cc-skills/plugins/autoloop}"
TEMPLATE="$PLUGIN_ROOT/templates/LOOP_CONTRACT.template.md"
if [ ! -f "$TEMPLATE" ]; then
  echo "ERROR: template missing at $TEMPLATE — reinstall the plugin" >&2
  exit 1
fi
cp "$TEMPLATE" "$CONTRACT_PATH"

# Also copy the PROVENANCE.md template (Wave 3) — sits alongside CONTRACT.md
PROV_TEMPLATE="$PLUGIN_ROOT/templates/PROVENANCE.template.md"
if [ -f "$PROV_TEMPLATE" ]; then
  cp "$PROV_TEMPLATE" "$CONTRACT_DIR/PROVENANCE.md"
fi

Then inject user inputs via sed (or Edit the file via Claude's tools):

<SHORT_DESCRIPTIVE_NAME> → user-provided name
<ISO_8601_UTC> → date -u +"%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ" (always -u; bare date returns local time and silently mismatches the contract's UTC fields)
<RELATIVE_PATH_TO_LOOP_CONTRACT_MD> → $CONTRACT_PATH (now under .autoloop/<slug>--<hash>/CONTRACT.md)
<CORE DIRECTIVE> / <PROJECT OR CAMPAIGN TITLE> → user-provided scope

After the template is in place, call init_contract_frontmatter_v2 to stamp all v2 birth-record fields (loop_id, campaign_slug, created_at_utc, etc.):

NEW_LOOP_ID=$(derive_loop_id "$CONTRACT_PATH")
init_contract_frontmatter_v2 "$CONTRACT_PATH" "$NEW_LOOP_ID" "$CONTRACT_DIR/state"

Step 5: Register loop in machine registry

After deriving the loop ID in Step 2/3, register this loop in the machine-level registry.

owner_session_id is set to pending-bind here. The SessionStart hook (hooks/session-bind.sh) replaces it atomically on the next session start, because $CLAUDE_SESSION_ID env var is not populated in skill Bash subprocesses (anthropics/claude-code#47018). Capturing it inline would always store empty/garbage — the hook is the only correct binding site.

# Source the registry library
PLUGIN_ROOT="${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT:-$HOME/.claude/plugins/marketplaces/cc-skills/plugins/autoloop}"
source "$PLUGIN_ROOT/scripts/registry-lib.sh"

# Derive loop_id from contract path (if not already done)
loop_id=$(derive_loop_id "$CONTRACT_PATH")

# Create entry JSON with all required fields. owner_session_id="pending-bind"
# is the canonical placeholder; the SessionStart hook replaces it atomically
# on the next session start. bound_cwd starts empty; heartbeat-tick records
# it on the first tick and detects drift thereafter.
#
# state_dir resolution: ALWAYS go through `state_dir_path "$loop_id"
# "$CONTRACT_PATH"` instead of hand-rolling `<dir>/.loop-state/<id>/`.
# Wave 3 introduced the v2 layout (.autoloop/<slug>--<hash>/state/) and
# `state_dir_path` returns the correct path for both v1 and v2 contracts.
# Hand-rolling .loop-state would register a v1 path against a v2 contract
# and the heartbeat-tick hook would write to a directory the contract
# doesn't recognize.
entry=$(jq -n \
  --arg loop_id "$loop_id" \
  --arg contract_path "$(realpath "$CONTRACT_PATH")" \
  --arg state_dir "$(state_dir_path "$loop_id" "$CONTRACT_PATH")" \
  --arg owner_session_id "pending-bind" \
  --arg bound_cwd "" \
  --arg owner_pid "$$" \
  --arg owner_start_time_us "$(date +%s%N | cut -c1-16)" \
  --arg launchd_label "com.user.claude.loop.$loop_id" \
  --arg started_at_us "$(date +%s%N | cut -c1-16)" \
  --arg expected_cadence_seconds "$cadence_seconds" \
  --arg generation "0" \
  '{loop_id: $loop_id, contract_path: $contract_path, state_dir: $state_dir, owner_session_id: $owner_session_id, bound_cwd: $bound_cwd, owner_pid: $owner_pid, owner_start_time_us: $owner_start_time_us, launchd_label: $launchd_label, started_at_us: $started_at_us, expected_cadence_seconds: $expected_cadence_seconds, generation: $generation}')

# Register in machine registry (atomic, serialized write)
if ! register_loop "$entry"; then
  echo "WARNING: Failed to register loop in machine registry (may already exist)" >&2
fi

Step 6: Generate and load launchd plist

After registering the loop, generate the launchd plist and load it:

# Source the launchd library
PLUGIN_ROOT="${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT:-$HOME/.claude/plugins/marketplaces/cc-skills/plugins/autoloop}"
source "$PLUGIN_ROOT/scripts/launchd-lib.sh"
source "$PLUGIN_ROOT/scripts/state-lib.sh"

# Derive loop_id and state_dir
loop_id=$(derive_loop_id "$CONTRACT_PATH")
state_dir=$(state_dir_path "$loop_id" "$CONTRACT_PATH")

# Stub waker script path (Phase 9 will ship the actual script)
waker_script="$PLUGIN_ROOT/scripts/waker.sh"

# Calculate polling interval (default 150 seconds = half of typical cadence)
interval_seconds="${cadence_seconds:-300}"
interval_seconds=$((interval_seconds / 2))
if [ "$interval_seconds" -lt 60 ]; then
  interval_seconds=60
fi

# Generate plist. The Wave-6 anti-fragility wave hardened generate_plist to
# refuse a plist pointing at a missing waker_script (turned silent failure
# into loud failure).
if ! generate_plist "$loop_id" "$state_dir" "$waker_script" "$interval_seconds"; then
  echo "ERROR: Failed to generate launchd plist" >&2
  echo "  The bootstrap cannot continue safely; recover with /autoloop:tinker" >&2
  exit 1
fi

# Load plist (bootstraps on macOS; skipped gracefully on non-macOS).
# DO NOT swallow stderr — load_plist's diagnostic output (FDA permission,
# label collision, malformed plist, MDM block) is the only signal the user
# has when launchctl rejects the plist.
if ! load_plist "$loop_id" "$state_dir"; then
  echo "ERROR: Failed to load launchd plist" >&2
  echo "  The loop is registered but will not fire; recover with /autoloop:tinker" >&2
  exit 1
fi

# Wave-6 anti-fragility: post-bootstrap launchctl assertion.
# load_plist returning 0 only means the bootstrap call succeeded; verify
# the label actually appears in `launchctl list` so we never ship a
# half-loaded state. Skipped on non-macOS.
if [ "$(uname -s)" = "Darwin" ]; then
  label="com.user.claude.loop.${loop_id}"
  if ! launchctl list "$label" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
    echo "ERROR: launchctl list does not show '$label' after bootstrap" >&2
    echo "  This is a half-loaded plist state. Recover with /autoloop:tinker" >&2
    exit 1
  fi
fi

Step 7: Emit pointer trigger (updated from Step 7)

Print the snippet the user can feed to /loop:

/loop

Read and execute the latest autonomous work contract at:
  $CONTRACT_PATH

Follow its instructions verbatim. That file self-updates; this trigger stays fixed.

Step 8: Offer to start the loop immediately

Use AskUserQuestion with two options:

Start now — invoke the native /loop skill via Skill(loop) with the pointer trigger as input
Not yet — user will invoke /loop manually (e.g. after committing the contract)

If Start now, call Skill(loop) with the pointer trigger snippet as args. Otherwise print "Contract scaffolded at $CONTRACT_PATH. Run /loop with the pointer trigger above whenever ready."

Step 9: Suggest commit

Print a suggested first commit:

git add "$CONTRACT_PATH"
git commit -m "loop(bootstrap): scaffold LOOP_CONTRACT.md for $name"

Step 10: Print bind-verification block (Wave 6)

After Step 9, print the explicit verification block below. This is the last user-visible signal before /autoloop:start exits. Do NOT skip it — the silent pending-bind failure mode that motivated Wave 6 was caused in part by /autoloop:start exiting cleanly even when the loop was not actually firing autonomously.

🔧 Loop registered: $loop_id ($display_name)
   project_root:  $project_root              # = .created_at_cwd; bind hooks match cwd against this
   contract:      $CONTRACT_PATH

📡 Autonomous-fire requirement
   The launchd waker can only fire /loop on this loop AFTER the
   SessionStart hook has bound owner_session_id. The hook fires when
   you open Claude Code with cwd anywhere in the path hierarchy:

       $project_root  ⊆  cwd  ⊆  $(dirname "$CONTRACT_PATH")

   Until that bind happens, the registry shows owner_session_id =
   "pending-bind" and the waker logs "dead+fresh anomaly" instead of
   firing. Run /autoloop:muster to verify state.

✅ Verify within 30s of your next session start
   /autoloop:muster
       expect: STATUS=ACTIVE  (not PENDING-BIND or PENDING-BIND-STUCK)

   If PENDING-BIND-STUCK after 5min:
     • cd "$project_root" && claude        # opens a session that the hook can bind
     • /autoloop:tinker $loop_id           # patches owner_session_id from THIS session
     • heal-self.sh runs hourly and will auto-bind to a live session
       whose JSONL mtime is <5min — a third safety net

Echo this block verbatim with the variables expanded. Don't paraphrase or shorten — the troubleshooting hint paths are load-bearing for operators encountering pending-bind for the first time.

Anti-patterns

Do NOT overwrite an existing contract without explicit user confirmation
Do NOT write the contract to a dir outside the current working tree (sandbox bypass)
Do NOT invoke /loop with the full Core Directive as prompt — always use the short pointer trigger pattern

Troubleshooting

| Symptom | Fix | | ----------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ | | Template not found | claude plugin reinstall autoloop@cc-skills | | /loop says "unknown skill" | Claude Code version < 2.1.101; upgrade to get native /loop | | Pointer trigger re-reads stale file | Ensure $CONTRACT_PATH is absolute or CWD-stable |

Post-Execution Reflection

Locate yourself. — Confirm this SKILL.md is the canonical file before any edit.
What failed? — Fix the instruction that caused it.
What drifted? — Update the template if it's out of sync with the latest idiom.
Log it. — Evolution-log entry with trigger, fix, evidence.

Agent Skills: autoloop: Start

Install this agent skill to your local

Skill Files

autoloop: Start

Arguments

Step 1: Ensure hooks are installed

Step 2: Preflight (v2 layout — `.autoloop/<slug>--<hash>/CONTRACT.md`)

Step 3: Collect contract inputs

Step 4: Scaffold the contract

Step 5: Register loop in machine registry

Step 6: Generate and load launchd plist

Step 7: Emit pointer trigger (updated from Step 7)

Step 8: Offer to start the loop immediately

Step 9: Suggest commit

Step 10: Print bind-verification block (Wave 6)

Anti-patterns

Troubleshooting

Post-Execution Reflection

Agent Skills: autoloop: Start

Install this agent skill to your local

Skill Files

autoloop: Start

Arguments

Step 1: Ensure hooks are installed

Step 2: Preflight (v2 layout — .autoloop/<slug>--<hash>/CONTRACT.md)

Step 3: Collect contract inputs

Step 4: Scaffold the contract

Step 5: Register loop in machine registry

Step 6: Generate and load launchd plist

Step 7: Emit pointer trigger (updated from Step 7)

Step 8: Offer to start the loop immediately

Step 9: Suggest commit

Step 10: Print bind-verification block (Wave 6)

Anti-patterns

Troubleshooting

Post-Execution Reflection

Step 2: Preflight (v2 layout — `.autoloop/<slug>--<hash>/CONTRACT.md`)