Stop Babysitting Claude: The /goal, /loop, and /schedule Cheat Sheet

Straight From The Docs

Claude Code docs: run prompts until done, on a loop, or on a schedule ↗

Most people babysit Claude. They give it a task, then sit there watching, nudging it along, retyping "keep going" to make sure it actually finishes. That is not delegation. That is you turning yourself into the bottleneck.

Three commands fix it. /goal keeps Claude working until a finish line you set is true. /loop runs a task again and again. /schedule runs a task on a cadence, even when your laptop is closed. This is the cheat sheet for all three.

This is the big one. You type /goal and a finish line. Claude works toward it, and every time it tries to stop, it checks your finish line. If it is not met, it keeps going on its own. No more babysitting.

Type /goal on its own to see the current status, and /goal clear to cancel it early.

The One Rule That Makes It Work

Give It One Measurable Finish Line

Claude can only stop when it can check that you are done. So your finish line has to be something it can actually verify. The difference is everything:

Too vague: "plan my upcoming trip." There is no way to know when that is finished, so it either stops too early or wanders forever.

Measurable: "plan my 5 day trip to New York with a morning, afternoon, and dinner plan for every day, nothing left blank, and show me all 5 days before you stop." Now there is a clear, checkable end state.

The trick: name the thing that has to exist at the end (a full 5 day schedule, an inbox at zero, a finished file with every row filled), and tell Claude to show it to you before stopping.

Here are four /goal finish lines you can copy, swap in your details, and paste straight into Claude.

Plan a trip (nothing left blank)

Use this when you want a complete itinerary, not a rough sketch you have to finish yourself.

/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. Use my budget and the preferences we already discussed. Nothing can be left blank. Show me the complete 5-day schedule in one view before you stop.

Get your inbox to zero

Use this when you want email actually handled, not just "looked at."

/goal Get my inbox to zero unread messages. For each unread email, either archive it, delete it, or draft a reply for me to approve. Then count the unread messages again and show me the number is zero before you stop.

Finish a research deliverable

Use this when you want a finished document with no missing pieces.

/goal Create a one-page comparison of [OPTION A], [OPTION B], and [OPTION C] covering price, the main pros, the main cons, and who each one is best for. Every option must have all four filled in, no blanks. Show me the finished page before you stop.

Organize a messy folder

Use this when you want a folder actually sorted, with proof.

/goal Sort every file in [FOLDER] into clearly named subfolders by type and date. No file can be left loose in the main folder. When you finish, show me the new folder structure and confirm zero files are left unsorted.

Where /goal works toward a finish line, /loop just runs the same task over and over on a timer. It is perfect for checking on something while you do other work. Type the interval, then the task. Press Esc to stop it.

Watch for something to finish

Runs every 5 minutes until you stop it.

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

Repeat a routine check

Runs every hour. Leave the interval off and Claude will pick its own pace.

/loop 1h Pull any new entries from [my form / my sheet / my channel], sort them by priority, and post me a short summary of what came in this hour.

Good To Know

/loop runs in your open session, so your terminal needs to stay open. A repeating loop also clears itself after 7 days, so set it up again if you need it longer.

This is the hands-off one. /schedule saves a task that runs automatically on a schedule, up in the cloud, so it keeps running even when your laptop is closed. You describe the timing in plain English and Claude sets it up. Type /schedule list to see your tasks and /schedule run [name] to fire one now.

A morning triage

/schedule every weekday at 8am, go through my new messages and tasks, sort them by priority, and send me a short morning briefing of what needs my attention today.

A weekly cleanup

/schedule every Sunday at 6pm, organize the week's new files into the right folders, flag anything that looks like a duplicate, and send me a one-paragraph summary of what you cleaned up.

Be Honest About This One

Scheduled tasks run on a paid Claude plan (Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise, around $20 a month and up) and the fastest cadence is once an hour. Because they run on their own with no one watching, never schedule something that deletes or sends things until you have tested it a few times by hand first.

Here is the whole thing in three lines:

/goal when you have one job and you want Claude to keep going until it is truly finished. One shot, until done.
/loop when you want to run the same check again and again right now, while you do other things. Repeat on a timer.
/schedule when you want something to run on its own, on a cadence, with nobody watching. Set it and forget it.

The Real Win

The whole point is to stop hovering. The moment you can write a clear finish line, you can walk away and let Claude actually do the work. That is the difference between using AI as a chat box and using it as a teammate. (/goal needs a recent version of Claude Code, version 2.1.139 or newer, so update if you do not see it.)

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