cancel

# Cancel Loop

Gracefully terminate an active loop while preserving all completed work.

## When to Use

| Situation | Action |
|-----------|--------|
| **Need to change direction** | Cancel, then start new loop with updated spec |
| **Spec was wrong** | Cancel, clarify with `/hope:intent`, restart |
| **Good enough** | Cancel when partial progress is sufficient |
| **Taking too long** | Cancel to review approach before continuing |
| **Emergency stop** | Cancel immediately halts next iteration |

## Cancel vs Natural Completion

- **Natural completion:** Loop satisfied spec, clean exit with success summary
- **Cancel:** User-initiated stop, preserves progress, enables restart

Cancel when you want control back. Let it complete when spec is being satisfied.

## What Happens

1. **Read state** — Load `.loop/workflow-state.json`
2. **Set status** — Update status to `"cancelled"` in state file
3. **Find active task** — TaskList for in_progress task (subject starts with "Loop:")
4. **Mark terminated** — TaskUpdate status=completed with cancellation note
5. **Report state** — Iterations, cost, accomplished work, remaining items

Current iteration completes before cancel takes effect. No mid-operation interruption.

## State File Update (Required)

Update `.loop/workflow-state.json`:

```json
{
  "status": "cancelled",
  "exit_signal": false
}
```

This ensures the stop hook allows the cancellation to proceed.

## Output

```
Loop cancelled.

Completed: [N] iterations, $[X] cost
Accomplished:
- [list of completed steps]

Remaining:
- [list of incomplete steps]

Criteria status:
- [criterion 1]: ✓/✗
- [criterion 2]: ✓/✗

To restart: /loop:start [spec]
```

## Guarantees

- All completed work preserved (no rollback)
- State file updated to prevent resume
- Clean termination (no dangling state)
- Full accounting (iterations, cost, progress)
- Restart possible with same or modified spec