---
title: Your first loop in 10 minutes
description: init, doctor, a dry-run tick and a first dispatch — with the real output of each step.
---

Ten minutes, four commands, nothing irreversible until the last one.

The `doctor` and dry-run outputs on this page are **real captures**, taken read-only on 2026-09-20 against a
live pilot repository with the 0.15.0 build, with paths and the operator's name redacted. The `loop init`
replay is **reconstructed**: the prompts are the ones `init` asks, the answers are invented.

<RunReplay
  title="ak-harness loop init --preset library"
  lines={[
    '$ npx ak-harness loop init --preset library',
    '? GitHub repository  acme/report',
    '? Project name       report',
    '? Linear team key    REP',
    '? Whose queue does this machine drain?  jordan',
    '',
    'wrote loop.config.yaml (preset: library)',
    '  project.verifyCommand  pnpm lint && pnpm test',
    '  schedule.tick          */5 * * * *',
    '  schedule.deliver       */10 * * * *',
    '',
    'next: ak-harness loop doctor',
  ]}
/>

The file it writes contains what *this* project decided and nothing the preset already says — so the diff a
reviewer reads is five lines, not five hundred.

## `loop doctor`, for real

Captured read-only against a live pilot on 2026-09-20, trimmed to the checks and with paths and the operator's
name redacted:

```json
{
  "status": "failed",
  "orca": { "version": "1.4.205", "minVersion": "1.4.200" },
  "checks": [
    { "id": "orca.version",        "status": "passed",  "detail": "Orca 1.4.205 ≥ 1.4.200" },
    { "id": "provider.claude",     "status": "passed",  "detail": "available (session 0%, weekly 74%; remaining~26%)" },
    { "id": "provider.codex",      "status": "passed",  "detail": "available (weekly 4%; remaining~96%)" },
    { "id": "provider.opencode",   "status": "warning", "detail": "usage exhausted until 2026-09-22T13:16:45.013Z" },
    { "id": "routing.orchestrator","status": "passed",  "detail": "codex/gpt-5.6-sol · mode catalog · remaining 96%" },
    { "id": "routing.builder",     "status": "passed",  "detail": "codex/gpt-5.6-luna · mode catalog · remaining 96%" },
    { "id": "machine.slots",       "status": "warning", "detail": "0 free of 5 (running 6, cpus 10, load 60.87%, free RAM 8 GB)" },
    { "id": "linear.queue",        "status": "failed",  "detail": "orca linear list-issues failed: the runtime closed the connection" },
    { "id": "brief.skills",        "status": "passed",  "detail": "3 pinned skill file(s) present and readable" },
    { "id": "review.cli",          "status": "passed",  "detail": "found agentskit-review · transport headless · mode trusted-local" },
    { "id": "memory",              "status": "passed",  "detail": "enabled · backend file · preferOverDocBridge=true" }
  ]
}
```

Two useful things in one screen: one provider is out of quota and the loop already routed around it, and the
tracker call failed — which is why `status` is `failed` and why nothing should be dispatched until it is fixed.

## The rehearsal

```bash
npx ak-harness loop tick --dry-run --max 1
```

Real output, same machine, same moment:

```json
{
  "generatedAt": "2026-09-20T21:41:47.994Z",
  "dryRun": true,
  "slots": { "maxAgents": 5, "running": 6, "free": 0, "reasons": [] },
  "routing": { "orchestrator": "codex/gpt-5.6-sol", "builder": "codex/gpt-5.6-luna" },
  "queue": {
    "total": 1,
    "busy": ["AGE-1402", "AGE-1691", "AGE-1692", "AGE-1696", "AGE-1702", "AGE-1719", "AGE-1718"],
    "candidates": ["AGE-1659"]
  },
  "status": "idle",
  "results": []
}
```

One candidate, seven issues already in flight, zero free slots — so `idle`, and nothing dispatched. A dry run
that reports work it could not have done would be worse than no dry run.

## The first dispatch

```bash
npx ak-harness loop tick --max 1
npx ak-harness loop watch --once
```

From here the schedule takes over: `loop install`, and the tick runs every five minutes whether or not you are
at the machine. That is the whole point.