no-polling-agents
Prevents agents from polling for completion by using status files instead.
Install
mkdir -p .claude/skills/no-polling-agents && curl -L -o skill.zip "https://agentskills.codes/api/skills/download/2714" && unzip -o skill.zip -d .claude/skills/no-polling-agents && rm skill.zipInstalls to .claude/skills/no-polling-agents
Activation
This is the description your AI agent reads to decide when to run this skill — the better it matches your request, the more reliably it fires.
No Polling for Background AgentsKey capabilities
- →Launch background tasks without blocking
- →Write completion status to persistent files
- →Check task status only when results are required
How it works
Agents execute tasks in the background and write to a status file, allowing the main process to continue without polling.
Inputs & outputs
When to use no-polling-agents
- →Managing parallel background tasks
- →Optimizing agent token usage
- →Implementing event-driven task completion
About this skill
No Polling for Background Agents
When launching parallel background agents, do NOT poll with sleep loops.
Pattern
Background agents write to status files when complete. Wait for them naturally.
DO
- Launch agents with
run_in_background: true - Continue with other work while agents run
- Check status file only when user asks or when you need results to proceed
- Trust the agent completion system
DON'T
- Run
sleep 10 && cat status.txtin loops - Continuously poll for completion
- Waste tokens checking status repeatedly
- Block on agents unless absolutely necessary
When to Check Status
- User explicitly asks "are they done?"
- You need agent output to proceed with next task
- Significant time has passed and user is waiting
Example
// Launch agents
Task({ ..., run_in_background: true })
Task({ ..., run_in_background: true })
// Continue with other work or conversation
// Agents will write to status file when done
// Only check when needed
cat .claude/cache/status.txt
Source
User feedback: "You can just wait until everyone pings you"
When not to use it
- →When tasks must execute sequentially
- →When real-time progress monitoring is required
Limitations
- →Requires agent support for background execution
- →Not suitable for time-sensitive synchronization
How it compares
It replaces blocking sleep loops with an event-driven approach that only checks status when necessary.
Compared to similar skills
no-polling-agents side by side with the closest alternatives in the catalog.
| Skill | Installs | Updated | Safety | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| no-polling-agents (this skill) | 2 | 7mo | No flags | Beginner |
| opencode-cli | 14 | 7mo | Review | Advanced |
| claude-automation-recommender | 47 | 2mo | Review | Beginner |
| mcp-integration | 21 | 9mo | Review | Intermediate |
Try saying
Example prompts that trigger this skill in your AI assistant.
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