Chapter: concepts (docs/concepts.md) Copy Section

Concepts & Vocabulary

Loop engineering sits in a family of ideas about agentic software development. This glossary links them so you can design loops with the right mental model.

Loop Engineering Copy Chapter

Replacing yourself as the prompter. You design a system that discovers work, assigns it, verifies results, and persists state — instead of typing the next prompt yourself.

A loop is a recursive goal: define purpose, let the agent iterate (with sub-agents and external memory) until done or until the loop escalates to a human.

Related Concepts (Addy Osmani) Copy Chapter

Agent Harness Engineering Copy Section

The environment one agent runs in: tools, context, permissions, rules. The harness is the sandbox; the loop is what schedules and orchestrates harness runs over time.

Harness = single session setup
Loop    = harness + schedule + state + verification chain

The Factory Model Copy Section

The system that builds the software: pipelines, agents, checks, and handoffs. Loop engineering is how you operate the factory floor — not manually assembling each unit.

Intent Debt Copy Section

Every session, the agent starts cold. Missing intent gets filled with confident guesses. Skills are how you pay down intent debt — conventions, build steps, and "we don't do it this way" written once, read every run.

Comprehension Debt Copy Section

The gap between what exists in the repo and what you actually understand. Faster loops ship more code you didn't write — comprehension debt grows unless you read what the loop made.

Cognitive Surrender Copy Section

The trap of letting the loop run while you stop having opinions. Designing loops with judgment is the cure; using loops to avoid thinking is the accelerant. Same action, opposite outcome.

Orchestration Tax Copy Section

The human cost of coordinating parallel agents: review bandwidth, merge conflicts, context switching. Worktrees remove mechanical collisions; you remain the ceiling on how many parallel loops you can absorb.

Code Agent Orchestra / Adversarial Code Review Copy Section

Structural pattern: different agents with different roles (explore, implement, verify). The implementer must never grade its own homework. Critical for unattended loops.

The Six Primitives (+ Memory) Copy Chapter

See primitives.md and primitives-matrix.md.

1. Automations / Scheduling
2. Worktrees
3. Skills
4. Plugins & Connectors (MCP)
5. Sub-agents (maker / checker)
6. + Memory / State (external, durable)

Concept Map Copy Chapter

flowchart TB
  subgraph human [Human — highest leverage]
    Design[Design loop]
    Judgment[Encode judgment in skills + verifiers]
    Gate[Human gates for high-risk work]
  end
  subgraph loop [Loop system]
    Schedule[Scheduler /loop cron Action]
    Triage[Triage skill]
    State[(STATE.md / Linear)]
    Impl[Implementer sub-agent]
    Verify[Verifier sub-agent]
    MCP[MCP connectors]
  end
  Design --> Schedule
  Schedule --> Triage
  Triage --> State
  State --> Impl
  Impl --> Verify
  Verify --> MCP
  MCP --> State
  Verify --> Gate
  Judgment --> Triage
  Judgment --> Verify

Where to Go Next Copy Chapter

- Loop Design Checklist — before you ship a loop
- Failure Modes — when loops go wrong
- Operating Loops — cost, logging, when to pause
- Safety — guardrails for production