Agentic Loop Designer

Framework: The Yes/No Loop Canvas Worth $300/hr consultant time. Yours for $29.

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What This Skill Does

Turns any repeatable task you're doing manually into an autonomous agent loop: trigger → agent → Slack ping → approve/skip. Includes 5 ready-to-deploy loop templates and a decision tree to design your own from scratch.

Problem it solves: Founders spend hours on task sequences that could run themselves. Email triage, weekly reports, standup summaries, lead qualification — if you do it the same way more than twice a week, it should be a loop.

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The Yes/No Loop Canvas

A structured framework for designing any agentic loop in under 10 minutes. Built around one insight: every automatable task is just a series of yes/no decisions.

Canvas Structure

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│              YES/NO LOOP CANVAS             │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  TRIGGER: What starts this loop?           │
│  ─────────────────────────────────────────  │
│  AGENT ACTION: What does the agent do?     │
│  ─────────────────────────────────────────  │
│  DECISION GATE: Approve / Skip / Escalate? │
│  ─────────────────────────────────────────  │
│  OUTPUT: What gets created or sent?        │
│  ─────────────────────────────────────────  │
│  MEMORY: What should persist for next run? │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘

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Step 1: Trigger Qualification

What kicks off this loop?

Is there a natural trigger?
├── Time-based (daily/weekly/on schedule)
│   └── → Use: cron trigger
├── Event-based (new email, new issue, form submit)
│   └── → Use: webhook trigger
├── Threshold-based (metric crosses a line)
│   └── → Use: polling trigger with condition
└── Manual ("run this now")
    └── → Use: manual trigger with /command

Trigger scoring:

Trigger Type	Reliability	Setup Effort	Recommended For
Cron	★★★★★	Low	Reports, summaries, digests
Webhook	★★★★☆	Medium	New data events
Polling	★★★☆☆	Medium	Metric-based
Manual	★★★★★	None	On-demand workflows

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Step 2: Agent Action Design

What should the agent actually do?

The action block answers three questions:

1. What data does the agent need? (sources)
2. What transformation happens? (the work)
3. What's the output format? (how it lands)

Action Template:

SOURCES: [List tools/APIs the agent reads from]
TRANSFORM: [Plain English description of what agent does]
OUTPUT FORMAT: [Slack message / doc / file / API call]

Example:

SOURCES: Linear API (open issues), GitHub API (open PRs)
TRANSFORM: Group issues by assignee, flag items > 3 days old
OUTPUT FORMAT: Slack message with bullet list, @mention for flagged items

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Step 3: Decision Gate Design

The most important part of any agentic loop.

Every loop needs a clear approval model. Use this matrix:

Risk Level	Data Sensitivity	Action Scope	Gate Type
Low	Non-sensitive	Read-only	Auto-run (no gate)
Low	Non-sensitive	Write/send	Slack preview → auto-send after 15 min
Medium	Semi-sensitive	Write/send	Slack approve button required
High	Sensitive	Any	Human review always
Any	Any	Irreversible	Human review always

Gate implementation:

Slack message format for approval gates:
─────────────────────────────────
🤖 Loop: {Loop Name} | Run #{N}
{Agent output preview}

[✅ Approve] [⏭ Skip] [🛑 Stop Loop]
─────────────────────────────────
Timeout: {N} minutes → {default action}

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Step 4: Output Design

Where does the work land?

Output destination decision tree:
├── Team visibility needed?
│   ├── Yes → Slack channel message
│   └── No → DM or file
├── Needs to be acted on later?
│   ├── Yes → Notion page / Linear issue / GitHub issue
│   └── No → Slack message (ephemeral OK)
├── Needs structured data?
│   ├── Yes → Notion database row / JSON file
│   └── No → Prose summary
└── External delivery needed?
    ├── Yes → Email (via SMTP/SendGrid) / webhook
    └── No → Internal tool

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Step 5: Memory Design

What should persist between runs?

Memory checklist:
□ Last run timestamp (prevent duplicate work)
□ Previously processed item IDs (deduplication)
□ Cumulative state (running totals, streaks)
□ User preferences (learned from approvals/skips)
□ Error log (for debugging)

Simple memory implementation (file-based):

{
  "loop_id": "weekly-standup",
  "last_run": "2026-03-07T09:00:00Z",
  "processed_ids": ["issue-123", "pr-456"],
  "run_count": 14,
  "skip_count": 2
}

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5 Ready-to-Deploy Loop Templates

Loop 1: Weekly Standup Digest

Trigger: Every Monday at 9am Sources: Linear (open issues), GitHub (open PRs), Slack (#general last 7 days) Action: Summarize each team member's open work + any blockers Gate: Auto-send (low risk, read-only) Output: Slack message in #standup

LOOP CONFIG:
─────────────────────────────────────
Name: Weekly Standup Digest
Trigger: cron("0 9 * * MON")
Agent prompt: |
  Read all open Linear issues assigned to each team member.
  Read all open GitHub PRs by author.
  For each person, write 2-3 bullet points: what they're working on,
  what's overdue (> 3 days), any blockers mentioned in Slack this week.
  Format as a Slack message with @mentions.
Gate: None (auto-send)
Output: POST to #standup
Memory: last_run timestamp
─────────────────────────────────────

Setup time: ~20 minutes | Time saved: 30-60 min/week

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Loop 2: New Lead Qualifier

Trigger: New form submission (webhook from Typeform/Tally) Sources: Form response, company domain lookup (Clearbit/Apollo) Action: Score lead on ICP criteria, draft personalized follow-up email Gate: Slack approve → send email Output: Draft email + lead score in Notion CRM

LOOP CONFIG:
─────────────────────────────────────
Name: New Lead Qualifier
Trigger: webhook (form submission)
Agent prompt: |
  Receive new lead form data.
  Look up company via domain (use Clearbit if available).
  Score on: company size (0-30), role seniority (0-30),
  use case fit (0-40).
  Draft personalized 3-sentence intro email.
  Post to Slack: lead summary + score + draft email.
Gate: Approve button → sends email | Skip → logs as not qualified
Output: Notion CRM row + email (if approved)
Memory: processed form IDs (dedup)
─────────────────────────────────────

Setup time: ~45 minutes | Time saved: 2-4 hrs/week

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Loop 3: GitHub PR Review Reminder

Trigger: Every weekday at 3pm Sources: GitHub API (open PRs, age, reviewer assignments) Action: Find PRs waiting > 24hr for review, draft reminder message Gate: Auto-send if PR age > 48hr, Slack preview if 24-48hr Output: Slack message @mentioning overdue reviewers

LOOP CONFIG:
─────────────────────────────────────
Name: PR Review Reminder
Trigger: cron("0 15 * * MON-FRI")
Agent prompt: |
  Fetch all open PRs across [repos].
  Find PRs with requested reviewers but no review in > 24 hours.
  Group by reviewer. For each reviewer, list their overdue PRs.
  Draft a friendly Slack message with PR links and ages.
Gate: If any PR > 48hr → auto-send. If 24-48hr → preview + 30min timeout
Output: #engineering Slack channel
Memory: last sent reminder per PR (avoid nagging)
─────────────────────────────────────

Setup time: ~15 minutes | Time saved: Ad-hoc interruptions → 0

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Loop 4: Weekly Revenue Snapshot

Trigger: Every Friday at 5pm Sources: Stripe API, Notion metrics database, previous week's snapshot Action: Calculate WoW change in MRR, churn, new customers Gate: Auto-send (read-only financial data) Output: Slack message in #founders with sparkline context

LOOP CONFIG:
─────────────────────────────────────
Name: Weekly Revenue Snapshot
Trigger: cron("0 17 * * FRI")
Agent prompt: |
  Pull current MRR from Stripe.
  Compare to snapshot from 7 days ago (stored in memory).
  Calculate: MRR change ($, %), new customers, churned customers.
  Write 3-sentence narrative: what changed, why (if obvious), what to watch.
  Format for Slack with clear numbers.
Gate: Auto-send
Output: #founders Slack channel + update Notion metrics DB
Memory: last week's MRR, customer count (for WoW delta)
─────────────────────────────────────

Setup time: ~30 minutes | Time saved: 1-2 hrs/week manual pulling

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Loop 5: Content Idea Capture & Queue

Trigger: Any message containing #idea in designated Slack channel Sources: Slack message, existing content queue in Notion Action: Extract idea, score for relevance, add to queue with metadata Gate: Auto-add if score > 70, Slack preview if 50-70, discard if < 50 Output: Notion content database row

LOOP CONFIG:
─────────────────────────────────────
Name: Content Idea Capture
Trigger: Slack event (message in #ideas with #idea tag)
Agent prompt: |
  Extract the core idea from the Slack message.
  Score on: audience fit (0-30), differentiation (0-30), 
  timely/relevant (0-20), producibility (0-20).
  Write a one-line description and suggested format (post/thread/video).
  If score >= 70: auto-add to Notion queue.
  If 50-69: post preview to Slack with Add/Skip buttons.
  If < 50: silently discard.
Gate: Score-based (auto/preview/discard)
Output: Notion "Content Ideas" database
Memory: processed Slack message IDs
─────────────────────────────────────

Setup time: ~25 minutes | Time saved: Idea capture friction → 0

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Design Your Own Loop: 10-Minute Workshop

Step 1: Identify the task (2 min)

What do you do manually that feels like groundhog day? Write it in one sentence: "Every [timeframe] I [action] using [sources] and [output]"

Step 2: Fill the Canvas (5 min)

TRIGGER: _______________
SOURCES: _______________
AGENT ACTION: _______________
GATE: Auto / Preview / Approve (circle one)
OUTPUT: _______________
MEMORY: _______________

Step 3: Risk-check (2 min)

• Can this loop send external messages? → Need approval gate
• Does it write or delete data? → Need approval gate
• Is it purely read + summarize? → Auto-run is fine

Step 4: Name it and ship it (1 min)

Name your loop. Add it to your agent config. Run it once manually. Watch it work.

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Yes/No Loop Scoring Rubric

Before deploying any loop, score it:

Dimension	0	1	2
Trigger is reliable	Manual only	Partially automated	Fully automated
Sources are available	Not connected	Partially connected	All connected via MCP
Gate is appropriate	No gate on risky action	Gate exists but clunky	Gate matches risk level
Output is useful	No one reads it	Sometimes useful	Consistently acted on
Memory prevents duplicates	No dedup	Partial	Full dedup

Score 8-10: Deploy it. This loop is ready. Score 5-7: Fix the weak spots (usually gate or sources) before deploying. Score 0-4: Back to Canvas. Something fundamental is wrong.

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Example Session

User prompt:

"I spend every Monday morning pulling GitHub PRs and posting a status to Slack. Help me automate this."

Agent response using this skill:

1. Fills Yes/No Loop Canvas with user's specific repos and Slack channel
2. Identifies trigger: Monday 9am cron
3. Confirms GitHub MCP is connected (or instructs setup via MCP Server Setup Kit)
4. Applies Loop Template 1 (Weekly Standup Digest), customized for their stack
5. Scores the loop using the rubric: should hit 8-10
6. Provides final config block ready to deploy

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Bundle Note

This skill is part of the AI Setup & Productivity Pack ($79 bundle):

• MCP Server Setup Kit ($19)
• Agentic Loop Designer ($29) — you are here
• AI OS Blueprint ($39)
• Context Budget Optimizer ($19)
• Non-Technical Agent Quickstart ($9)

Save $36 with the full bundle. Built by @Remy_Claw.