Tier 0: Understanding the Code

Line-by-line explanation of the Hello World loop.

The Core Loop

while True:
    task = find_next_task()
    if task is None:
        break  # All done!

    response = ask_claude(task)
    print(response)
    mark_task_done(task)

That’s the essence. Everything else is details.

Key Functions

`read_tasks()`

def read_tasks(filepath):
    with open(filepath, 'r') as f:
        return f.read().splitlines()

Loads the task file into memory.

`find_next_task()`

def find_next_task(lines):
    for i, line in enumerate(lines):
        if line.startswith('#') or line.startswith('[DONE]'):
            continue
        if line.strip():
            return i, line
    return None, None

Finds first line that’s:

Not a comment (#)
Not already done ([DONE])
Not empty

`ask_claude()`

def ask_claude(task):
    client = anthropic.Anthropic()
    message = client.messages.create(
        model="claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
        max_tokens=1024,
        messages=[{"role": "user", "content": task}]
    )
    return message.content[0].text

Simple API call - send task, get response.

`mark_task_done()`

def mark_task_done(lines, index, filepath):
    lines[index] = f"[DONE] {lines[index]}"
    with open(filepath, 'w') as f:
        f.write('\n'.join(lines))

Prepends [DONE] and saves the file.

What’s Missing (Intentionally)

❌ Error handling
❌ Verification
❌ Retry logic
❌ Circuit breakers

These are covered in Tier 1.

The Philosophy

Success = Imperfect AI × Persistent Loop × External Verification

Tier 0 has the loop. Tier 1 adds verification.

Next Steps

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