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Claude Build · 4 min read · June 2026

Loops, not prompting: run Claude on repeat

Most people retype the same request to Claude every hour, like a human alarm clock. The /loop command does it for you. Set the job once, pick how often, and Claude runs it on repeat and only pings you when something actually needs you. Here is the exact setup from the video.

Jump to the steps Download the PDF ↓ Watch the video

You are using Claude like a chat box. Stop.

Here is the trap. You ask Claude something, it answers, and an hour later you ask the same thing again. Check the inbox. Check the deploy. Check if the thing happened yet. You become the alarm clock, and the AI just sits there waiting to be poked.

There is a one-word fix for this, and almost nobody outside of developers knows it exists: /loop. You tell Claude the job once and how often to run it, and it runs itself. No more retyping. No more remembering to check.

Set up a loop in 4 steps

  1. Open Claude Code. This is where /loop lives. If you have it open already, just start a new line.
  2. Type the loop in one line. The shape is always the same: /loop, then how often, then the job in plain English. So: /loop 1h check my inbox for anything urgent. That reads as "do this, wait an hour, do it again."
  3. Keep it running after you close the laptop. A plain loop stops when you close that session. So when Claude asks, pick Cloud schedule. Now it keeps running in the background even after you walk away.
  4. Let it work. Claude runs the job on your interval and only pings you when something needs you. To stop or change it, just tell Claude to cancel the loop or change how often it runs.

Try this one first

Inbox triage is the loop everyone feels straight away. Paste this into Claude Code, swap in what "urgent" means for you, and let it run.

Inbox loop 
/loop 1h check my inbox for anything urgent and tell me only if something needs a reply today

Three things that make loops work better

  • Be specific about the interval. 30m, 1h, 4h. Match it to how fast the thing actually changes, so you are not pinged for nothing.
  • Or skip the time and let it pace itself. Leave the interval out, like /loop watch this deploy and tell me when it passes, and Claude decides when to check.
  • Tell it what is worth interrupting you for. "Only ping me if it needs a reply" beats "summarise everything." A good loop is quiet until it matters.

That is the whole trick. One command, set once, running on its own. If it was useful, the newsletter is where I send the next one before it hits YouTube.