---
source_hash: cd7295ab1472c22e71b23de89fa6829c87e8c684bdd78463c4acfcdef0d640c9
post: /posts/workflows/loop-engineering-vs-icm
shape: doctrinal
---

# Context Pack: Loop Engineering + ICM

Reference for the rewritten essay. Only the quoted excerpts are verbatim. ICM is defined operationally as readable folders and Markdown holding working context; do not invent an expansion of the acronym.

## Verbatim excerpts

> A loop can't verify what it can't read back.

> Persistence makes checking possible; it doesn't make the check correct.

> Having a readable folder doesn't grant permission to edit everything inside it.

## Working contract

Loop Engineering supplies the execute, verify, correct and repeat cycle. ICM supplies the saved context each pass reads and updates. A restarted worker does not automatically inherit the previous conversation. Files offer a persistent record, provided it remains accurate and available; they do not guarantee good verification.

The three original questions remain: how the two intertwine through saved state, how folder movement records the loop's decisions, and how the human and automation share one readable board. The author still reads the board every time. Transparency helps diagnosis and recovery; it does not remove human judgement.

The example has THREE directories and TWO files, not five directories:

- 01_inbox/: new work.
- 02_doing/: the single item being worked.
- 03_done/: work that has passed verification.
- _board.md: rewritten each pass to reflect current state.
- _needs_me.md: uncertainty requiring human attention.

Read the board; pull one top inbox item into doing; work and verify, moving it to done only on a pass or recording uncertainty in _needs_me.md; update the board and repeat. A claim of activity is not evidence of completion.

The canonical middle directory is 02_doing. The rewrite resolves the original prose's inconsistent 02_processing name. The sibling Every stage its own folder uses 01_prompts through 05_final for a stage pipeline; do not merge those separate examples.

Read and write permissions are explicit and independent. Reading a source is not permission to change it. A verified draft does not authorise a release. The final retained law says: An autonomous loop is only as smart as the state it can read back between iterations.

## Retained teaching surfaces

- Three diagrams under /posts/workflows/loop-engineering-vs-icm/: hero-one-machine.png, a-blind-vs-stateful.png and b-folder-loop-rule.png. Their captions now distinguish inspectable state from guaranteed correctness.
- Two Pullquotes, BoardBreatheFidget, ReadWriteDialFidget and V3TeaserFidget. These are illustrations, not evidence that a worker or product is running. The dial percentages are invented; the v3 teaser is the June 2026 concept, not current release status.
- Exact original five-item code block; the rewrite accurately calls it three folders and two files.
- [Starter kit](/downloads/loop-icm-starter.md), rendered by Download.
- Components exported from apps/web/components/blocks.
- [Stage pipeline](/documents/workflows/every-stage-its-own-folder), [session auditions](/documents/workflows/empower-claude-sessions-as-auditions) and [Codex loop](/documents/discipline-and-process/the-codex-loop).