The loop
- Define the goal. What done looks like, in terms that can be checked.
- Gather the context needed to execute: the repository, linked issues, documents, connected sources, and past work.
- Take action. Write the code, draft the document, create the records.
- Verify the result against the goal and its constraints.
- Repeat until every condition is met.
Why this changes how you write issues
The loop terminates on the conditions you state. An issue with no definition of done gives the loop nothing to verify against, so it stops when the agent judges itself done. An issue that defines done lets the loop run itself to that bar. Write the definition of done into the issue: the outcome, the constraints, and how to check it. Issues covers the properties; Meet the agents shows who executes inside the loop.Where this shows up
- The loop walkthrough takes the loop step by step: ask, plan, agent.
- One-shot runs the whole loop from a single prompt.