Signal Over Noise

Signal Over Noise

Designing an Agent Runtime From Scratch

What Goes in the Loop

Justin Wilson's avatar
Justin Wilson
Aug 05, 2026
∙ Paid
Upgrade to paid to play voiceover

Most agent runtimes fail at the same place: the loop.

The loop is the thing that wakes up, checks for new input, assembles the context, calls the model, dispatches the action, and checkpoints state so the whole thing can survive a crash. It runs thousands of times a day. Every architectural decision you make about the loop compounds across every turn. A …

User's avatar

Continue reading this post for free, courtesy of Justin Wilson.

Or purchase a paid subscription.
© 2026 Justin Wilson · Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start your SubstackGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture