loopmath

loopmath helps an orchestrator agent choose how to run a coding task, and learns from how it went.

Before a task, it predicts how the user's usual agent workflow will do: the chance of an accepted result, and the cost in tokens and dollars. It shows the other workflows on a success-cost curve and offers two exploration picks. Each pick comes with its gain on every future similar run, its one-time price, and the number of runs it takes to pay back. After the task, the orchestrator records what ran and what came of it. loopmath fills in the token costs from the Claude Code and Codex logs, writes a receipt of predicted against actual, and refits.

loopmath never starts or coordinates agents. Claude Code, Codex, herdr or your own tool does that; loopmath is a CLI they call. Everything runs locally. No command opens a network connection, the logs are opened read only, and loopmath writes only to its store (~/.loopmath) and to paths you name.

The package installs two commands: loopmath and its short alias loop. If another loop is already on your PATH, use loopmath.

Install

Python 3.11 or newer.

pipx install loopmath          # or: uv tool install loopmath, or pip install loopmath in a venv
loopmath --version

From a clone of this repository:

python3 -m venv .venv
.venv/bin/python -m pip install -e .

First run

loopmath skill install      # teach your coding agents how to use loopmath

Then ask your agent to onboard, for example "onboard loopmath". The agent runs a dry run, asks you one question (which model labels your sessions, with the cost of each option), onboards, fits, and opens the results page.

skill install writes six skills, one per job, and a shared reference.md with every command and JSON field they use. An agent loads only the skill for the job at hand, and each phrase belongs to one skill:

Skill	Ask your agent
loopmath	loopmath named without a job: "use loopmath", "what can loopmath do", "what next with loopmath"
loopmath-onboard	"onboard", "set up", "start" or "try" loopmath; or loopmath has no runs yet
loopmath-import-runs	OCP files (*.ocp.json), a folder of finished runs, or the output of an orchestrator or experiment harness that writes OCP
loopmath-update-fit	"update", "refresh" or "rerun" the fit; what loopmath learned; runs imported or recorded without a refit
loopmath-plan-task	"plan a task with loopmath"; which workflow, model or effort to use; a coding task of more than a few minutes in a repo that uses loopmath
loopmath-record-run	a task planned with loopmath is done; "record", "log" or "save" a run; both runs of a pair need a blind judge

By default the skills go to every agent whose home exists: Claude Code (~/.claude/skills/<name>/, or under $CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR) and Codex (~/.codex/skills/<name>/, or under $CODEX_HOME). --target claude-code, codex or both picks them yourself. If your Codex has no skills folder, the files go to ~/.codex/loopmath/<name>/ instead, with a short marked block in ~/.codex/AGENTS.md that lists them. Add --scope project to install into the current repository (or --dir PATH for another one).

It is safe to run again. It records the files it wrote, with their hashes, in .loopmath-skills.json beside the skill folders, and it replaces or removes only those. A skill file you changed is kept, with a note. Any other file where a skill goes stops the install before it writes anything, and names the path to move aside. The single skill that 0.1 installed is replaced when it is as 0.1 wrote it. loopmath skill show NAME prints one skill, and loopmath skill uninstall removes the files it wrote. loopmath doctor shows what loopmath can see: logs, agents, store, fit, prices and skills.

To onboard by hand instead:

loopmath onboard --dry-run                                  # what it found, and what each labeller costs
loopmath onboard --labeler claude:claude-haiku-4-5 --yes    # record it and run a first fit

onboard reads your recent Claude Code and Codex sessions (the last 90 days unless you pass --since). It groups them into runs, labels each group's task type with a model you choose, names your usual workflow per task type and repository, and fits. loopmath never picks the labelling model for you. --labeler takes one of:

• claude:<model>, through your claude CLI;
• codex:<model>, through your codex CLI;
• command:<cmd>, any local command such as command:ollama run <model>, so nothing leaves the machine;
• none, to skip labelling.

Reading the history uses up to 8 worker processes (one per CPU, at most 8). Set LOOPMATH_WORKERS=1 to keep everything in one process, or another number to change the count.

loopmath ships with a prior built from our own sweeps and experiments, so recommend gives an answer before you have any history. Your own runs then move it.

The loop

The plan and record skills take an agent through the loop in three commands:

loopmath recommend --type bug_fix --repo acme/api --title "Fix the parser crash" --json --brief --html
loopmath run start --rec REC --choice goal --base-commit SHA --json      # the harness, model and effort per piece
loopmath run record --run RUN --session UUID --verified tests=pass --json  # costs from the logs, the outcome, the receipt

The same loop step by step, for a tool of your own:

# 1. Plan: classify the task, then ask.
loopmath task-types
loopmath recommend --type bug_fix --repo acme/api --feature size=s --feature lang=python --json
#    the usual workflow (without one, your best recorded workflow is the reference), the success-cost curve,
#    alternatives, two exploration picks, a suggested pair

# 2. Record: one run per workflow you run, one attempt per agent you launch.
loopmath run start --type bug_fix --repo acme/api --base-commit SHA --config CFG --source usual --rec REC
loopmath run attempt --run RUN --piece implement --harness claude-code --model claude-opus-5-5 \
  --effort high --cwd . --session UUID          # launch the agent with: claude --session-id UUID
loopmath run attempt --run RUN --end ATT --status done
loopmath run artifact --run RUN --kind commit --path SHA --by ATT

# 3. Outcome: verdicts, scores, and later events.
loopmath outcome --run RUN --signal tests=pass --kind verdict --tier verified
loopmath outcome --run RUN --signal runtime_s=182 --kind score --unit s --better lower

# 4. Finish: costs from the logs, a receipt, a refit.
loopmath run finish --run RUN

# Later: an incident or revert traced back to the run that made the commit.
loopmath outcome --commit SHA --signal incident=INC-42 --kind event --source tracker

A pair runs the goal workflow and an exploration pick from the same base commit, in separate worktrees. Save the recommendation (recommend ... --json > rec.json) and start both runs from it with run start --task-file rec.json, so they share one task: the first with --new-slate, the second with --slate SLT. A blinded referee then picks the better change, which you record with loopmath outcome --slate SLT --prefer RUN --judge referee --blinded.

A run counts as a success when it is accepted under your rule. By default that means the task's tests pass. A rule can also be a score target: loopmath recommend ... --target 'heldout_perf>=2400' or --target 'runtime_s<=200' gives the expected score and the chance of reaching the target. Set standing rules and other options with loopmath config set KEY VALUE, and the spending cap with loopmath budget --usd X --period month.

Runs recorded by another tool that writes OCP v0.3, such as an experiment runner, come in with loopmath run import DIR --finish: several files or a directory, with one refit at the end (--no-fit skips it). Runs in your store always count as yours, whatever source their documents name. loopmath fit --without SOURCE leaves out one shipped prior source, and loopmath status names the options of the current fit.

The three views

Each view is a self-contained HTML file written by a command; there is no server. The same numbers are available with --json.

• Previous runs: loopmath runs --html. Every recorded run with its workflow graph, costs, signals and receipt.
• Plans for a task: loopmath recommend ... --html. The candidates on a success-cost chart. Click one to see its workflow graph with per-piece predictions.
• Current estimates: loopmath posterior --html. What loopmath believes at each level (model, effort, role, topology, task type, repository, feature), each with a range. Add --workflow CFG (a configuration id from loopmath recommend or your runs) to see the estimate for each piece of one workflow.

Without a path, --html writes the page under ~/.loopmath/views/ and prints where it went.

Commands

Group	Commands
Plan	task-types, workflows (list, show, validate, diff), recommend
Record	run (start, attempt, artifact, finish, import), outcome, budget, config (get, set)
Learn	fit, onboard, share, prior
View	runs, posterior, status, report, doctor
Skill	skill (install, uninstall, show)
OCP	ocp (validate, migrate)
Log analysis	analyze, graph, adapt, prices, validate-prices, scan, verify-receipts

Each command prints a short summary by default. With --json, it prints exactly one JSON object instead. Exit codes: 0 ok, 1 user error, 2 not found, 3 not implemented, 4 store locked, 5 no fit yet. For flags, loopmath <command> --help is the source of truth.

A workflow is a TOML file. loopmath workflows list shows the catalog and yours, which live in ~/.loopmath/workflows/. This one implements, then sends a rejected change back once or twice:

id = "implement_review_mine"
version = 1
title = "Implement, then review"
edges = ["issue -> implement", "repo -> implement", "implement -> diff", "diff -> review", "review -> verdict"]

[[pieces]]
id = "implement"
role = "implementer"

[[pieces]]
id = "review"
role = "reviewer"

[[artifacts]]
id = "issue"
kind = "issue"

[[artifacts]]
id = "repo"
kind = "repo"

[[artifacts]]
id = "diff"
kind = "diff"

[[artifacts]]
id = "verdict"
kind = "verdict"

[control]
budget_rounds = 3             # rounds, counting the first; 1 means no repair

[[control.gates]]
after = "review"              # the review's verdict decides
on_fail = "implement"         # a rejected change goes back to implement

[settings.implement]          # optional; with a setting for every piece, the file is a configuration
harness = "claude-code"
model = "claude-opus-5-5"
effort = "high"

[settings.review]
harness = "codex"
model = "gpt-5.6-sol"
effort = "high"

Check it with loopmath workflows validate FILE, compare it with loopmath workflows diff implement_review FILE, and pass it to recommend --workflow FILE to have it considered, or to run start --workflow FILE to record a run with its settings (--set PIECE=HARNESS:MODEL:EFFORT overrides a piece).

The store and privacy

The store is ~/.loopmath. Set LOOPMATH_HOME or pass --home to put it elsewhere; the log parse cache moves with it, to cache/ inside the store, unless you set LOOPMATH_CACHE_DIR. It holds:

• one OCP v0.3 document per recorded run;
• signals, receipts and fits;
• your config and your workflows;
• the views you write;
• the log parse cache.

Do not edit the store by hand; use the commands.

Run files use the metadata_only privacy profile. They keep structure, models, tokens, dollars, paths and verdicts, but not transcript text.

loopmath share --out FILE writes a reduced copy you can send to us. It keeps task types, workflows, models, tokens, dollars and outcomes. Repository names are hashed. Titles, paths, commands, session ids and commit shas are removed. loopmath share --preview prints exactly what would leave.

Analyzing logs without recording

The log commands work on their own, with no store or fit:

loopmath analyze                 # cost per accepted run from the last 14 days of local logs
loopmath graph --workspace NAME --format html --out graph.html

analyze reads ~/.claude/projects and ~/.codex/sessions. It grades the outcome evidence it finds, prices known models, and prints cost per accepted run with an 80% band. It also lists what it could not use and why.

graph rebuilds which agent launched which, and which session read what another wrote. Its formats are ocp, json, dot, run and html. See the workflow graph guide and adapters.

Research data

loopmath research fit|transfer-test and loopmath analyze-e0 read data folders that are not part of the package. Name them with a flag (--sweep-dir, --corpus), an environment variable (LOOPMATH_SWEEP_DIR, LOOPMATH_E0_CORPUS), or config (loopmath config set research.sweep_dir PATH, research.e0_corpus). The research verbs need the bayes extra (pip install 'loopmath[bayes]').

More

• OCP, the run format: the normative note that goes with the schemas, and the versioning promise
• Release policy
• Packaged model prices

License

MIT.