Clone

Keep Claude Code working — even when it wants to stop.

Clone is a Claude Code plugin that turns any task into a self-driving loop. When Claude tries to stop, Clone predicts your most likely next prompt and hands it back to Claude so the work continues — without you having to type the same nudge ten times.

/clone:loop "Build a REST API for todos. CRUD, validation, tests." --max-iterations 20

Then walk away.

Why people use it

• Stop typing "yes, keep going." Clone predicts the obvious next step and injects it for you. Threshold-gated so it only auto-continues when it's confident.
• Rich context, not a one-line snapshot. Each prediction sees your original task, every prior iteration's user turn, and a full timeline of what Claude did this iteration — text, tool calls, and tool results.
• AskUserQuestion popups answered automatically during an active loop.
• One session, one Claude. No subprocesses, no daemons, no parallel agents to herd.

Quick start

claude plugin marketplace add cloneisyou/clone-claude-plugin@main
claude plugin install clone@clone-labs --scope user

Inside Claude Code:

/clone:api-key status
/clone:loop "Run tests and fix any failures" --max-iterations 5

Cancel anytime with /clone:cancel-loop.

Note

Clone ships with a public demo API key so you can try it in seconds. For private memory and your own prediction quality, set CLONE_API_TOKEN and run /clone:api-key import-env.

To update later: claude plugin marketplace update clone-labs && claude plugin update clone@clone-labs.

Commands

Command	What it does
/clone:loop "<task>" [options]	Start a loop.
/clone:cancel-loop	Cancel the active loop.
/clone:api-key status|import-env|set|clear	Manage your Clone API key.
/clone:help	Show command help.

Options for /clone:loop

• --max-iterations <n> — stop after N iterations (0 = unlimited). Start small (5–10) while you tune the prompt.
• --clone-threshold <n> — confidence threshold in [0, 1]. Default 0.6. Below threshold, Clone hands control back to you.
• --clone-agent "<label>" — advanced; agent label sent to Clone.

How it works

1. /clone:loop writes a state file and Claude starts the task.
2. When Claude tries to stop, the Stop hook intercepts.
3. The hook asks Clone MCP predict_next_prompt for what you'd most likely say next.
4. Above threshold → prediction injected, Claude continues. Above threshold + satisfaction signal → loop exits, asks for input. Below threshold → loop exits, asks for input.
5. Mid-loop AskUserQuestion popups are auto-answered the same way.

What Clone actually sees

• Your original task prompt — always preserved verbatim.
• The conversation so far — every prior iteration's injected user turn plus the assistant timeline that produced it (text + tool calls + summarized tool results).
• What Claude just did — this iteration's full timeline.

Sane caps: 20-turn rolling window on user history, oldest prior-iter timelines drop first when the combined size exceeds budget, and long tool outputs are summarized head + tail. The original prompt and the freshest iteration are never trimmed.

Why Clone Loop, not just Ralph Loop?

Ralph Loop is the well-known baseline: when Claude tries to stop, replay the same prompt. It works — until the right next nudge stops being "do what I just said." Tell Claude to "Build a REST API" and the second iteration shouldn't re-read your spec; it should write tests. The third shouldn't write tests again; it should fix the failures it just produced.

Clone Loop replaces the replay with a prediction: it asks Clone MCP "what would the user say next, given the conversation so far?" — and only injects that prediction when the model is confident enough. Below threshold, control returns to you instead of looping on a stale instruction.

flowchart LR
  STOP([Claude tries to stop])
  STOP --> RALPH["Ralph Loop:<br/>replay original prompt"]
  STOP --> CLONE["Clone Loop:<br/>ask Clone MCP for next prompt"]
  RALPH --> RC["Claude continues<br/>with the same instruction"]
  CLONE --> GATE{"Confidence ≥<br/>threshold?"}
  GATE -- yes --> CC["Inject prediction →<br/>Claude continues with<br/>a fresh, contextual nudge"]
  GATE -- no --> ESC["Escalate to human"]

  classDef ralph fill:#fff7ed,stroke:#ea580c,color:#111827;
  classDef clone fill:#ecfdf5,stroke:#059669,color:#064e3b;
  classDef gate fill:#eff6ff,stroke:#2563eb,color:#1e3a8a;
  classDef esc fill:#fef2f2,stroke:#dc2626,color:#7f1d1d;
  class RALPH,RC ralph
  class CLONE,CC clone
  class GATE gate
  class ESC esc

Loading

	Ralph Loop	Clone Loop
Next prompt	Same as the first one	Predicted from the conversation so far
Context sent	None	Original task + every prior user turn + current iteration timeline
Safety gate	Max iterations only	Max iterations + confidence threshold
Failure mode	Pushes stale instructions until N hits	Stops and asks the human when confidence dips
Best fit	Strict retry loops	Iterative work where the next step changes

API key

Token resolution order: CLONE_API_TOKEN env var → plugin config (${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_DATA}/auth.local.json) → public demo fallback.

export CLONE_API_TOKEN="clone_xxx"   # or $env:CLONE_API_TOKEN on PowerShell
claude

/clone:api-key import-env
/clone:api-key status

Prefer import-env — /clone:api-key set <key> works but the key may linger in your transcript.

Warning

The demo key is public and shared. Don't use it with private memory.

Pinning a version

git clone https://github.com/cloneisyou/clone-claude-plugin.git
cd clone-claude-plugin
git checkout clone-plugin-v0.3.0   # or any tag from the Releases page
claude --plugin-dir .

Tags: see Releases.

Requirements

Claude Code with plugin support, Node.js on PATH. Windows: PowerShell or cmd, no Git Bash needed.

Development

pnpm test                                # unit + integration
pnpm run test:mcp:e2e                    # live Clone MCP smoke
node scripts/manual-e2e-multiturn.mjs    # manual rich-context probe
claude plugin validate .

Important

Live MCP tests hit the remote Clone endpoint. Don't record sensitive data against the demo fallback.

Note

The clone-labs marketplace is hosted from this repo — not the official Anthropic claude-plugins-official marketplace.

License

Apache-2.0.