Exercise 03: Design for the Loop

Concept: The Agent Loop (CC-001) Level: Advanced Time: ~20 minutes

Objective

Design a multi-step task that takes advantage of the agent loop's strengths. You will write a prompt that requires Claude to gather information from multiple sources, make decisions based on what it finds, and produce a structured output.

This exercise has no step-by-step walkthrough. You get a scenario, constraints, and success criteria. How you get there is up to you.

Before You Start

Confirm you have:

Completed Exercises 01 and 02
Claude Code open in this directory
Internet access (Claude will use WebSearch)

The Scenario

You want to evaluate whether a specific open-source tool is worth adopting for your workflow. Instead of spending an hour researching manually, you will write one prompt that makes Claude do the research for you.

Your Task

Write a prompt that makes Claude:

Search for information about a tool you are curious about (pick any real tool: a CLI tool, a library, a framework)
Read the tool's documentation or README
Compare it against an alternative you already know
Write a structured evaluation to a file called evaluation.md

The evaluation file must include:

Tool name and what it does (one sentence)
Three strengths
Three weaknesses or limitations
A direct comparison with the alternative
A verdict: adopt, wait, or skip

Constraints

Your prompt must be a single message (no back-and-forth)
Do not tell Claude which tools to use (let the loop decide)
The output must be a single file, not multiple files
Use Plan Mode first to preview, then execute

Success Criteria

Claude made at least 5 tool calls to complete the task
The evaluation file exists and contains all required sections
The strengths and weaknesses are specific (not generic praise)
The comparison is direct, not just two separate descriptions
The verdict gives a clear recommendation with reasoning

Hints (only if stuck)

Hint 1: Prompt structure

A good prompt for the agent loop includes:

What to research (specific tool name)
What to compare against (specific alternative)
What output to produce (file name and structure)
What NOT to do (no installation, no code generation)

Hint 2: Example prompt skeleton

Research [tool X] and compare it to [tool Y] for [use case].

Search the web for recent reviews and the official docs.
Write an evaluation to evaluation.md with:
- One-sentence description of each tool
- 3 specific strengths of [tool X]
- 3 specific weaknesses of [tool X]
- Direct comparison table: [tool X] vs [tool Y]
- Verdict: adopt, wait, or skip, with reasoning

Do not install anything. Do not write code. Research only.

Reflection

After completing this exercise, consider:

How many tool calls did Claude make? (Check the terminal output)
Did the loop take any detours? Were they useful or wasteful?
What would you change in your prompt to get a better result?
How long would this research have taken you manually?

The agent loop is most powerful when the task requires gathering and synthesizing information from multiple sources. A single prompt replaces what used to be 30 minutes of tab-switching and note-taking.

What You Learned

Single-prompt, multi-step tasks are where the agent loop shines
Output structure in the prompt gives the loop a clear target
Plan Mode first lets you verify the approach before committing
The loop handles the how: You specify the what and the where

Clean Up

rm evaluation.md

What Comes Next

You now understand the agent loop: what it is (Exercise 01), how to control it (Exercise 02), and how to design tasks for it (Exercise 03).

Next concepts to explore:

CC-002 Built-in Tools - The specific tools the loop uses
CC-010 CLAUDE.md - How to give the loop standing instructions
CC-006 Permissions - How to control what the loop is allowed to do

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