LoopGuard watches your editor in real time. When you apply the same AI fix and hit the same error again and again, it tells you — shows the time wasted, fires an alert, and gives you a focused context snapshot so the next prompt actually has a chance of working.
Features
Loop detection — tracks repeated diagnostics and edit patterns; alerts when you're stuck
Status bar timer — shows elapsed loop time so the cost of being stuck is always visible
In-editor dashboard — session overview with loop count, time wasted, and token savings
Focused context copy — copies only the lines relevant to the current error, not the whole file
Sidebar panel — persistent Activity Bar panel with live loop count, time wasted, token savings, and auth state
MCP integration — pairs with the optional loopguard-ctx native helper for Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, and Codex CLI
Shell hooks — cleans terminal output before it reaches AI models
Optional sync — anonymized session metrics can sync to your web dashboard; source code never leaves your device
Commands
Command
Description
LoopGuard: Show Dashboard
Open the in-editor session overview
LoopGuard: Copy Optimized Context
Copy focused context for the current file and error
LoopGuard: Configure MCP Server
Set up the local MCP helper for your AI tool
LoopGuard: Install Shell Hooks
Add shell hooks to clean output before AI calls
LoopGuard: Focus Sidebar
Open or focus the sidebar panel in the Activity Bar
LoopGuard: Reset Session
Clear loop state and timer
LoopGuard: Toggle Detection
Pause or resume loop detection
LoopGuard: Sign In
Optional — enables web dashboard sync
LoopGuard: Sign Out
Sign out of your account
Settings
Setting
Default
Description
loopguard.sensitivity
medium
Loop trigger speed: low (5 hits), medium (3), high (2)
loopguard.loopThreshold
3
Custom count — overrides the sensitivity preset
loopguard.enableContextEngine
true
Filter context before AI calls
loopguard.enableNotifications
true
Show popup alerts when a loop is detected
Quick Start
Install the extension — it activates automatically when a workspace opens.
Work as usual. LoopGuard watches diagnostics in the background.
When a loop is detected, the status bar and sidebar panel update and an alert fires.
Run LoopGuard: Copy Optimized Context to get a focused prompt instead of pasting the whole file.
Add MCP / Agent Support (optional)
Install the local helper binary:
brew install rodthenewcomer/loopguard/loopguard-ctx
# or
curl -fsSL https://loopguard.vercel.app/install.sh | sh
Then run LoopGuard: Configure MCP Server and restart your AI tool.
Privacy
Your code never leaves your machine.
All loop detection and context filtering runs locally inside the extension. If you choose to sign in, the backend stores only anonymized metrics — loop counts, session durations, token-saved estimates. No source code. No file contents.
