Use /loop to Run Recurring Tasks Inside Your Session

Sometimes you need Claude to keep checking on something while you work — a CI build, a deploy rolling out, or a flaky test you're monitoring. Instead of manually re-running the same prompt, let /loop handle it.

/loop 5m check the CI status on my latest PR and tell me when it passes

This runs the prompt every 5 minutes until you stop it. The default interval is 10 minutes if you don't specify one, and you can use shorthand like 5m, 1h, or 30s.

You can also loop slash commands. If you have a custom command that checks something specific, just pass it directly:

/loop 2m /check-deploy

A few things to keep in mind:

• The loop only runs while your Claude Code session is active — it's not a background daemon.
• Each iteration uses your context window, so keep the prompt focused to avoid bloating the conversation.
• Use /compact between long-running loops if the context starts getting heavy.
• Press Escape to interrupt the current iteration, or close the session to stop the loop entirely.

This pairs well with MCP servers — for example, loop a Nightwatch issue check or a database query to watch a value converge.

/loop 10m check Nightwatch for any new exceptions in the last 10 minutes

Think of /loop as a lightweight cron that lives inside your conversation — no hooks, no config, just set it and forget it.

via Claude Code