The Agentic Loop: Three loops in a trench coat

(bobbytables.io)

65 points | by btables 8 hours ago

7 comments

  • cheschire 19 minutes ago
    Anyone have suggestions on implementing loops with a basic $20/mo subscription to claude or gemini? Any blog posts recommended?
    • gexla 3 minutes ago
      The article is describing how every harness functions. If you're already using Codex, Claude Code, or Antigravity then you're already doing this. And you get a lot of usage. I generally don't hit my limits with GPT if I stick to reviews of code that cheaper models create. Google gives you a low number of free requests. OpenCode has a generous free tier for open source models (and a plan that is $5 / month for the first month.)
  • tptacek 3 hours ago
    You can always find more loops if you want to write the next version of this post. Anything that runs software is a loop of instruction execution.
  • swyx 4 hours ago
    • jamestimmins 4 hours ago
      The issue I have with loops is that for truly complex work, where I care about building a generalized solution for a complex problem, the agents frequently reward hack and end up burning indefinitely without finishing until I step in.

      Curious how you're addressing this

    • btables 4 hours ago
      Totally. Earth's rotation is a loop too. We should count that.
      • ratelimitsteve 3 hours ago
        rotation and orbit, and technically the eccentricity in the axis as well
        • monocasa 3 hours ago
          There's also at least the galactic orbit. There might be a very large scale orbit as well around the Great Attractor, but the jury's still bery much out on that one.
          • lioeters 31 minutes ago
            Kinda getting dizzy thinking about all the loops we're embedded in. Where is the still point in these turning wheels of the world.
  • philipwhiuk 6 hours ago
    Aren't the loops the wrong way round in the diagram. The tightest loop is the inference loop, then the tool loop and then human loop?
    • btables 6 hours ago
      I think of them from the outside in, so that's why I illustrated it that way.
      • NitpickLawyer 3 hours ago
        Fascinating. I think it's the first time I've heard it put that way.

        For me it's more intuitive the other way around, as the "outer" loops increase in complexity (and can have additional separate loops running inside them). It also makes sense because you can always add more (meta) loops that way.

      • huflungdung 6 hours ago
        [dead]
    • DonHopkins 5 hours ago
      You are absolutely correct. It's an i18n/l10n issue. They spin in the opposite direction in the other hemisphere.
  • jabenhaim 1 hour ago
    [flagged]
  • draw_down 4 hours ago
    [dead]