Interactive Explainer Maps Claude Code Agent Loop Designs, from Single Calls to Self-Mutating Prompts

An interactive explainer at agent-loop.app.teenyapp.com breaks down how Claude Code handles its agent loops, memory management, and reasoning. Built with Opus 4.7, the site presents eleven actual agent loop designs that are in production, ranging from a single call to advanced agents that rewrite their own prompts.

What's Inside

The site is designed as a 30–60 minute learning resource for developers who want to understand Claude Code's thinking process. Each loop design is a real pattern gathered from research papers, leaks, and community sources. The explainer includes:

• Eleven loop patterns — from simple call loops to meta-agents that mutate their own instruction sets.
• SVG animations — visual walkthroughs of how each loop processes context, manages memory, and decides next steps.
• Interactive controls — you can watch each pattern execute step by step.

Loop Designs Covered

The eleven patterns include (but are not limited to):

• Single request-response (no loop)
• Basic loop with fixed context window
• Sliding window memory
• Hierarchical summarization loop
• Self-critique loops
• Prompt rewriting agents that modify their own system prompts
• Multi-agent loops where sub-agents report to a coordinator

Each pattern is annotated with when to use it, trade-offs in latency and accuracy, and real-world examples.

Why It Matters

Understanding these loops directly impacts your effectiveness with Claude Code. Choosing the right loop design can reduce token waste, improve response quality, and prevent context overflow. The interactive format lets you compare patterns side-by-side without running experiments yourself.