A loop is a prompt the discussion asks itself again, every few minutes, inside the same discussion. Each run sees the ones before it, so "check whether the deploy finished" the third time knows what the first two found. A schedule starts a fresh discussion at a time of day; a loop keeps one discussion going at a pace of minutes.
Starting one
Type the command in the composer of the discussion that should repeat.
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
| /loop 10m <what to check> | Repeats the prompt every ten minutes. Any pace from 1m to 60m |
| /loop <what to check> | The lead chooses each wait. It ends its reply with "Next check in N minutes." (1 to 60) or "Loop finished." |
| /loop now | Runs the next check at once |
| /loop stop | Ends the loop; the discussion stays |
| /loop | Says what is looping here |
A loop never runs while the discussion is already answering: a check that falls due mid-run waits until the room is free. Each run is paid for like a message.
Where it runs
A discussion your Mac runs loops on the Mac, with that Mac's seats, tools and workspace. A discussion the server runs loops on the server. The web and the iPhone show a strip above the composer with what is repeating, when it runs next, and Run now and Stop loop; for a Mac's loop the Mac acts on those when it is awake.
On the Mac, Loops in the sidebar lists every discussion that is looping, with a count beside it.
If a run cannot start, because there is no key or the folder is busy, the strip says why and the loop tries again a pace later.
When it ends
- The lead writes "Loop finished."
- You press Stop loop or type /loop stop.
- It reaches Most runs per loop (Mac and web: Settings → Schedule; iPhone: Settings). Choices: 10, 25, 50, 100 or 200; default 50, shared across your apps.
- A week has passed since it started.
Each start is written to the audit log as loop.started, and a strip button pressed from another device as loop.remote.
When to use it. Watching a long deploy, a queue draining, a page that should change soon, a build you expect to go green.
When not to use it. A task that runs at the same time every day belongs in Schedule. A loop whose prompt needs your approval each time stalls, as a schedule would; set Permission to Auto first, and give the discussion a ceiling.
Further reading. crontab — The Open Group, POSIX.1-2024, for the thing a loop is not.