---
name: loop-6a4a80a27734
description: "Start an autonomous experiment loop with user-selected interval (10min, 1h, daily, weekly, monthly). Uses CronCreate for scheduling."
command: /ar:loop
---

# /ar:loop — Autonomous Experiment Loop

Start a recurring experiment loop that runs at a user-selected interval.

## Usage

```
/ar:loop engineering/api-speed             # Start loop (prompts for interval)
/ar:loop engineering/api-speed 10m         # Every 10 minutes
/ar:loop engineering/api-speed 1h          # Every hour
/ar:loop engineering/api-speed daily       # Daily at ~9am
/ar:loop engineering/api-speed weekly      # Weekly on Monday ~9am
/ar:loop engineering/api-speed monthly     # Monthly on 1st ~9am
/ar:loop stop engineering/api-speed        # Stop an active loop
```

## What It Does

### Step 1: Resolve experiment

If no experiment specified, list experiments and let user pick.

### Step 2: Select interval

If interval not provided as argument, present options:

```
Select loop interval:
  1. Every 10 minutes  (rapid — stay and watch)
  2. Every hour         (background — check back later)
  3. Daily at ~9am      (overnight experiments)
  4. Weekly on Monday   (long-running experiments)
  5. Monthly on 1st     (slow experiments)
```

Map to cron expressions:

| Interval | Cron Expression | Shorthand |
|----------|----------------|-----------|
| 10 minutes | `*/10 * * * *` | `10m` |
| 1 hour | `7 * * * *` | `1h` |
| Daily | `57 8 * * *` | `daily` |
| Weekly | `57 8 * * 1` | `weekly` |
| Monthly | `57 8 1 * *` | `monthly` |

### Step 3: Create the recurring job

Use `CronCreate` with this prompt (fill in the experiment details):

```
You are running autoresearch experiment "{domain}/{name}".

1. Read .autoresearch/{domain}/{name}/config.cfg for: target, evaluate_cmd, metric, metric_direction
2. Read .autoresearch/{domain}/{name}/program.md for strategy and constraints
3. Read .autoresearch/{domain}/{name}/results.tsv for experiment history
4. Run: git checkout autoresearch/{domain}/{name}

Then do exactly ONE iteration:
- Review results.tsv: what worked, what failed, what hasn't been tried
- Edit the target file with ONE change (strategy escalation based on run count)
- Commit: git add {target} && git commit -m "experiment: {description}"
- Evaluate: python {skill_path}/scripts/run_experiment.py --experiment {domain}/{name} --single
- Read the output (KEEP/DISCARD/CRASH)

Rules:
- ONE change per experiment
- NEVER modify the evaluator
- If 5 consecutive crashes in results.tsv, delete this cron job (CronDelete) and alert
- After every 10 experiments, update Strategy section of program.md

Current best metric: {read from results.tsv or "no baseline yet"}
Total experiments so far: {count from results.tsv}
```

### Step 4: Store loop metadata

Write to `.autoresearch/{domain}/{name}/loop.json`:

```json
{
  "cron_id": "{id from CronCreate}",
  "interval": "{user selection}",
  "started": "{ISO timestamp}",
  "experiment": "{domain}/{name}"
}
```

### Step 5: Confirm to user

```
Loop started for {domain}/{name}
  Interval: {interval description}
  Cron ID: {id}
  Auto-expires: 3 days (CronCreate limit)

  To check progress: /ar:status
  To stop the loop:  /ar:loop stop {domain}/{name}

  Note: Recurring jobs auto-expire after 3 days.
  Run /ar:loop again to restart after expiry.
```

## Stopping a Loop

When user runs `/ar:loop stop {experiment}`:

1. Read `.autoresearch/{domain}/{name}/loop.json` to get the cron ID
2. Call `CronDelete` with that ID
3. Delete `loop.json`
4. Confirm: "Loop stopped for {experiment}. {n} experiments completed."

## Important Limitations

- **3-day auto-expiry**: CronCreate jobs expire after 3 days. For longer experiments, the user must re-run `/ar:loop` to restart. Results persist — the new loop picks up where the old one left off.
- **One loop per experiment**: Don't start multiple loops for the same experiment.
- **Concurrent experiments**: Multiple experiments can loop simultaneously ONLY if they're on different git branches (which they are by default — each experiment gets `autoresearch/{domain}/{name}`).


---
Source attribution: LeoYeAI
Original project: https://github.com/LeoYeAI/openclaw-master-skills/blob/e5199b56ae1ff72e141586c17695563486c46702/skills/autoresearch-agent/skills/loop/SKILL.md
License: MIT
License information: https://opensource.org/license/mit
Original upstream instructions; downloaded from Mega AI Hub.

## Upstream license notice

MIT License

Copyright (c) 2026 MyClaw.ai (LeoYeAI)

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.



# Mega AI Hub resource metadata

Creator / publisher: LeoYeAI
Original project: https://github.com/LeoYeAI/openclaw-master-skills/blob/e5199b56ae1ff72e141586c17695563486c46702/skills/autoresearch-agent/skills/loop/SKILL.md
Attribution basis: Source repository record

Fields of work: Data & Analytics, Development & Engineering, Marketing, Product Management, Sales
Roles: Business Development, Data Scientist, Growth Marketer, ML / AI Engineer, Product Manager
Specialties: API
Tools: Croncreate
Country applicability: Country not specified
Classification basis: Source catalog labels
Instruction SHA-256: 1ccb0a1f71872318f3f2c33809c8a5ed3fe71fb7e0750712f78cbec14a01bc51