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A free guide by Mariah Brunner ↗ INSTAGRAM ↗ TIKTOK

Stop Babysitting
Claude

Three Claude Code commands make Claude finish the whole job on its own, so you stop being the bottleneck. Here’s the cheat sheet, with copy-paste examples.

Most people babysit Claude. They give it a task, then sit there nudging it and retyping "keep going" until it finishes. That turns you into the bottleneck.

Three commands fix it. /goal keeps Claude working until a finish line you set is true. /loop repeats a task on a timer while your session is open. /schedule runs a task in the cloud on a cadence, even when your laptop is closed. All three live in Claude Code, which is included with Claude Pro and up. (/goal docs, /loop docs, /schedule docs)

/goal: Work Until It’s Done

This is the big one. Type /goal and a finish line, and Claude starts working right away. After every turn, a second model checks your finish line. If it isn’t met, Claude keeps going on its own. Type /goal alone to see the status and /goal clear to cancel.

One catch: in the normal permission mode, Claude still stops to ask before actions you haven’t allowed. To actually walk away, run it in auto mode.

The One Rule That Makes It Work

Give it one measurable finish line. The checker only reads what Claude shows in the chat, so your finish line has to be something Claude can prove there. "Plan my upcoming trip" never ends. "Plan my 5-day trip with a morning, afternoon and dinner plan for every day, nothing blank, and show me all 5 days before you stop" has a clear end. Name the thing that has to exist at the end, and tell Claude to show it to you before stopping.

01

Plan a trip with nothing left blank

For a complete itinerary instead of a rough sketch you have to finish.

Trip Finish Line
/goal Build me a full 5-day itinerary for [CITY] on [DATES]. Every day needs a morning activity, a lunch spot, an afternoon activity, and a dinner spot with a note on whether to book ahead. Stay within [BUDGET] and my preferences: [what I love, what I hate, how much walking]. Nothing can be left blank. Check hours and booking rules on each place's own site and mark anything you couldn't confirm. Save it as itinerary.md and show me the complete 5-day schedule in one view before you stop.

02

Get your inbox to zero

For email that’s actually handled. Connect Gmail first.

Inbox Zero
/goal Get my Gmail inbox to zero unread messages. For each unread email, either archive it or draft a reply for me to approve. Never send or delete anything. Keep a list of what you archived and why. When you're done, count the unread messages again and show me the number is zero, plus the list of drafts waiting for me.

03

Finish a research deliverable

For a finished comparison with no missing pieces.

Research Deliverable
/goal Create a one-page comparison of [OPTION A], [OPTION B], and [OPTION C] for [what I need it for]. For each one cover price, the main pros, the main cons, and who it's best for, using each company's own site and noting the date you checked. Every option must have all four filled in. Save it as comparison.md and show me the finished page before you stop.

04

Organize a cluttered folder

For a folder that’s actually sorted, with proof.

Folder Sort
/goal Sort every file in [FOLDER] into clearly named subfolders by type and date. Move files only, never delete or rename them. No file can be left loose in the main folder. When you finish, show me the new folder structure and the count of files left unsorted, which must be zero.
/loop: Run It On Repeat

Where /goal works toward a finish line, /loop runs the same task on a timer. Type the interval, then the task. Leave the interval off and Claude picks its own pace, anywhere from a minute to an hour.

01

Watch for something to finish

Runs every 5 minutes until you cancel it.

Watcher
/loop 5m Check whether [the report / the upload / the build] has finished. If it has, tell me it's done and summarize the result in 3 bullets. If not, give me the current status in one line.

02

Repeat a routine check

Runs every hour. Needs the form, sheet or channel connected.

Hourly Check
/loop 1h Pull any new entries from [my form / my sheet / my Slack channel], sort them by priority (urgent, this week, later), and post me a short summary of what came in this hour. If nothing new came in, say "nothing new" and stop there.

Good To Know

/loop runs in your open session, so keep it open. To stop a timed loop like /loop 5m, ask Claude to cancel it. Esc only stops a loop where Claude picks the pace. Repeating loops delete themselves after 7 days.

/schedule: Run It On A Cadence

This is the hands-off one. /schedule saves a task that runs in Anthropic’s cloud on a schedule, so it keeps running with your laptop closed. Describe the timing in plain English and Claude asks a few questions, then saves it. Type /schedule list to see your tasks and /schedule run to start one now. You can also manage them at claude.ai/code/routines.

01

A morning triage

Uses your connected Gmail and Slack.

Morning Briefing
/schedule every weekday at 8:07am, go through my new Gmail messages and Slack mentions since yesterday, sort them by priority, and send me a short morning briefing: what needs a reply today, what's waiting on me, and anything I can ignore. Don't reply to or archive anything.

02

A weekly file cleanup

Cloud tasks can’t see the files on your computer, so point this at a Google Drive folder.

Weekly Cleanup
/schedule every Sunday at 6:07pm, look through the files added to [Google Drive folder] this week, suggest the right folder for each one, flag anything that looks like a duplicate, and send me a one-paragraph summary. Don't move or delete anything until I approve the list.

Be Honest About This One

Scheduled tasks are on Pro ($20 a month, or $17 billed yearly), Max, Ultra, Team and Enterprise. The fastest cadence is once an hour. Because they run with nobody watching and can use your connectors, never schedule anything that sends or deletes until you’ve tested it a few times by hand. Tip: pick a few minutes past the hour, like 8:07, because runs set exactly on the hour can start late.

Which One Do I Reach For?
  1. /goal when you have one job and want Claude to keep going until it’s truly finished.
  2. /loop when you want the same check repeated right now while you do other things.
  3. /schedule when you want something to run on its own, on a cadence, with nobody watching.

The moment you can write a clear finish line, you can walk away and let Claude do the work. That’s the difference between using AI as a chat box and using it as a teammate. If you don’t see one of these commands, update Claude Code.