acp-loop: Recurring Prompt Scheduler

Schedule AI agent prompts to run at intervals or cron schedules.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when the user:

• Wants to run a prompt repeatedly at fixed intervals
• Needs cron-style scheduling for agent tasks
• Wants to automate recurring AI workflows
• Asks about scheduling, looping, or periodic execution of prompts

Installation

npm install -g acp-loop

Quick Start

Interval Mode

Run prompts at fixed intervals:

# Every 5 minutes
acp-loop --interval 5m "check logs for errors"

# Every 30 seconds, stop after 10 iterations
acp-loop --interval 30s --max 10 "quick health check"

# Every hour, timeout after 8 hours
acp-loop --interval 1h --timeout 8h "hourly report"

Cron Mode

Run prompts on cron schedules:

# Daily at 3am
acp-loop --cron "0 3 * * *" "nightly cleanup"

# Every Monday at 9am
acp-loop --cron "0 9 * * 1" "weekly standup summary"

# Every 5 minutes (cron style)
acp-loop --cron "*/5 * * * *" "monitor status"

Options Reference

Option	Description	Example
--interval <duration>	Fixed interval (30s, 5m, 1h)	--interval 5m
--cron <expression>	Cron expression	--cron "0 9 * * *"
--agent <name>	Agent to use (default: codex)	--agent claude
--max <n>	Max iterations	--max 10
--timeout <duration>	Max total runtime	--timeout 2h
--until <string>	Stop when output contains	--until "DONE"
--quiet	Minimal output	--quiet

Common Patterns

Conditional Stop

# Run until task reports completion
acp-loop --interval 1m --until "All tests passed" "run test suite"

Limited Runs

# Run exactly 5 times
acp-loop --interval 10s --max 5 "check deployment status"

Time-Boxed Execution

# Run for max 1 hour
acp-loop --interval 5m --timeout 1h "monitor build"

Daily Scheduled Task

# Every day at midnight
acp-loop --cron "0 0 * * *" "generate daily report"

Using Different Agents

# Use Claude instead of Codex
acp-loop --interval 10m --agent claude "review code changes"

# Use Gemini CLI
acp-loop --interval 5m --agent gemini-cli "check status"

Important Notes

1. Mutually exclusive: Use either --interval OR --cron, not both
2. Cron library: Uses croner (handles laptop sleep/wake better than node-cron)
3. Stop: Press Ctrl+C to stop the loop
4. Agent support: Works with any ACP-compatible agent (codex, claude, gemini-cli)

Why acp-loop?

• Claude Code's built-in /loop command has bugs
• Works with any ACP-compatible agent, not just Claude
• Proper cron expression support
• Better handling of laptop sleep/wake cycles

Resources

• GitHub: https://github.com/femto/acp-loop
• npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/acp-loop