I Accidentally Made Claude Ask Itself the Same Question 1,966 Times

I Accidentally Made Claude Ask Itself the Same Question 1,966 Times

Last night I broke Claude Code in the most absurd way possible.

The Setup

I've been experimenting with Claude Code, Anthropic's CLI tool for AI-assisted development. One of its features is plugins, and I installed one called Ralph Wiggum - a loop mechanism that lets Claude iteratively work on tasks.

The idea is simple: give Claude a task, let it loop until it's done. Great for complex, multi-step work.

The Prompt

I wanted Claude to help me build out my personal brand. So I typed:

Create an amazing full stack of branding presence for me

And enabled the Ralph Wiggum loop.

What Went Wrong

Here's the loop configuration file that got created (.claude/ralph-loop.local.md):

---
active: true
iteration: 1966
max_iterations: 0
completion_promise: null
started_at: "2026-01-03T16:21:24Z"
---

Create an amazing full stack of branding presence for me

See the problem?

max_iterations: 0 = unlimited iterations

The Symptom

Every single message I sent got hijacked. Claude would respond, but then immediately get interrupted with:

Stop:Callback hook blocking error from command: "callback":
Create an amazing full stack of branding presence for me

Over. And over. And over.

1,966 times.

I couldn't have a normal conversation. Every response was intercepted. Canceling the loop via the plugin command failed with a parse error. I was trapped in branding purgatory.

The Irony

The task was to create my branding presence.

Claude attempted this task 1,966 times without producing a single asset.

This might be the most committed non-delivery in AI history. Maximum effort, zero output.

The Fix

Eventually Claude itself helped me debug. We:

1. Searched for hook configurations
2. Found the .claude/ralph-loop.local.md file
3. Discovered it had been running for hours
4. Deleted it with rm

rm .claude/ralph-loop.local.md

Instant relief.

Lessons Learned

1. Always Set Max Iterations

If you're using any loop mechanism, always set a sensible limit. max_iterations: 0 sounds like "none" but means "infinite."

2. Know Where Config Files Live

Claude Code stores loop state in .claude/ directories. When things go wrong, check there first:

• ~/.claude/settings.json - global settings
• .claude/settings.local.json - project settings
• .claude/ralph-loop.local.md - loop state (if using that plugin)

3. Hooks Can Hijack Everything

Claude Code hooks are powerful - they can intercept and modify any interaction. A misbehaving hook can make the entire tool unusable.

4. Vague Prompts + Infinite Loops = Bad Time

"Create an amazing full stack of branding presence" is vague. Claude kept asking for clarification, which triggered another loop iteration, which asked for clarification...

The Silver Lining

I didn't get my branding assets. But I got a great story, a deeper understanding of Claude Code internals, and content for dev.to and Twitter.

Sometimes the bug is the feature.

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Have you broken an AI tool in a spectacular way? Drop your stories in the comments.

P.S. - I still need that branding presence. Maybe I'll try again... with max_iterations: 5.