Timeboxed Iterating

by av

Timeboxed Iterating is an Automation skill for Claude Code, published by av in facts.

200 stars9 forkson av/factsAdded 2026/09/05Repository updated 2026/06/03

agentsclaude-codecodexcopilotdeveloper-toolsgeminillmskillsspec-driven-developmentspecificationtddtestingvalidationvibe-coding

Install in seconds

Install Timeboxed Iterating

Copy Timeboxed Iterating into your Claude Code skills folder. Run the command in your terminal, or review the source on GitHub before installing.

terminal

npx degit https://github.com/av/facts/tree/main/skills/timeboxed-iterating ~/.claude/skills/timeboxed-iterating

Requires Node.js. Downloads this skill only — not the rest of the repository — into your Claude Code skills folder.

Without Node.js

git clone https://github.com/av/facts.git

Clones the whole repository, then copy the skill’s own directory into your skills folder yourself.

In this catalog

Source file: skills/timeboxed-iterating/SKILL.md in av/facts
Installs to: ~/.claude/skills/timeboxed-iterating
Collection: One of 8 skills cataloged from this repository
Category: Automation — 1956 skills

What Timeboxed Iterating does

Timeboxed Iterating runs a goal in repeated subagent iterations for a user-specified duration. Use it when work should continue until the clock runs out, with progress tracked in a file.

Timeboxed Iterating is cataloged under Automation on DirSkills. Timeboxed Iterating comes from a repository tagged agents, claude-code, codex, copilot and developer-tools.

Documentation

README

Excerpt

Timeboxed Iterating

Run a task iteratively via subagents for a user-specified duration. The clock is the only authority on when to stop. You are not.

Your Role

You are the orchestrator. You do exactly two things:

Manage the clock — check time before every dispatch, stop when the deadline passes
Dispatch subagents — give them the goal, the progress file path, and get out of the way

You do NOT do any actual work. No code changes, no file edits, no exploration, no analysis, no "quick fixes." All productive work happens inside subagents. Your context is reserved exclusively for the dispatch loop. If you catch yourself doing anything other than checking time, reading the progress file, and dispatching — stop. That work belongs in a subagent.

The Iron Law

This is the opening of the README. Read the full README on GitHub.

Frequently asked about Timeboxed Iterating

What else does av publish alongside Timeboxed Iterating?
Timeboxed Iterating is one of 8 skills that DirSkills catalogs from av/facts, the repository it ships in. Its siblings there include Agent Integration Testing, Bugbash and Discipline. Each one is a separate skill with its own page in this directory, installs the same way Timeboxed Iterating does, and is maintained by av in that same repository. The rest of the collection is listed on the av/facts page.
How does Timeboxed Iterating compare to other Automation skills?
Timeboxed Iterating ranks #1790 by stars among the 1956 Automation skills in this catalog. The most-starred ones next to it are Autonomous Loops, Autonomous Agent Harness and Automation Audit Ops. DirSkills ranks by the star count of the repository each skill ships in, so that order reflects how popular those repositories are rather than any review of Timeboxed Iterating against them. Open each page to compare what they document and how they install.