Stop a coding agent's retry loop before it burns your budget
SpendVeto adds a budget, a loop detector and a kill switch to Claude Code and Codex. When an agent kept rerunning a failing test, each retry being a paid model call, it stopped the loop at call 7.
Source
@RevanthRajeev on X · 2026-10-18
Written in our own words. Credit to the original author. Link checked 2026-10-18.
What they did
SpendVeto adds a budget, a loop detector and a kill switch to Claude Code and Codex. When an agent kept rerunning a failing test, each retry being a paid model call, it stopped the loop at call 7.
Result (as claimed)
Free and open source.
Tools they used
Cost: Claude Code: from $17/mo; OpenAI Codex: free plan, paid from $8/mo.
Set it up
Pick a contained repo or task
Start on a branch or side project where mistakes are cheap.
Install and configure
Set up Claude Code, OpenAI Codex. Read what it can run on your machine and limit permissions where possible.
Run it on a real task
Give it a well-scoped issue and let it work. Review the diff like any pull request.
Add guardrails
Keep tests and CI in the loop, and never let an agent push to main or touch production secrets unattended.
Copy the full setup prompt
Paste into your agent and it will walk you through the setup, asking before anything that sends, posts or spends.
You are helping me set up this AI use case end to end in Claude Code. Goal: Stop a coding agent's retry loop before it burns your budget What the original author did: SpendVeto adds a budget, a loop detector and a kill switch to Claude Code and Codex. When an agent kept rerunning a failing test, each retry being a paid model call, it stopped the loop at call 7. Reported result (as claimed by the author): Free and open source. Source: https://x.com/RevanthRajeev/status/2111894367749406853 Tools they used: Claude Code, OpenAI Codex Category: Dev & ops Please: 1. Ask me 3 short questions about my situation (accounts I have, budget, what I want the output to look like). 2. Propose a step-by-step plan using these tools or cheaper alternatives, with the time and cost of each step. Use official pricing pages; say "check pricing" if unsure. 3. Then do the setup with me one step at a time, waiting for my OK before anything that sends messages, posts publicly, spends money or deletes data. 4. Finish with a checklist to run it again next time.
You are helping me set up this AI use case end to end in Codex. Goal: Stop a coding agent's retry loop before it burns your budget What the original author did: SpendVeto adds a budget, a loop detector and a kill switch to Claude Code and Codex. When an agent kept rerunning a failing test, each retry being a paid model call, it stopped the loop at call 7. Reported result (as claimed by the author): Free and open source. Source: https://x.com/RevanthRajeev/status/2111894367749406853 Tools they used: Claude Code, OpenAI Codex Category: Dev & ops Please: 1. Ask me 3 short questions about my situation (accounts I have, budget, what I want the output to look like). 2. Propose a step-by-step plan using these tools or cheaper alternatives, with the time and cost of each step. Use official pricing pages; say "check pricing" if unsure. 3. Then do the setup with me one step at a time, waiting for my OK before anything that sends messages, posts publicly, spends money or deletes data. 4. Finish with a checklist to run it again next time.
You are helping me set up this AI use case end to end in Grok Bot. Goal: Stop a coding agent's retry loop before it burns your budget What the original author did: SpendVeto adds a budget, a loop detector and a kill switch to Claude Code and Codex. When an agent kept rerunning a failing test, each retry being a paid model call, it stopped the loop at call 7. Reported result (as claimed by the author): Free and open source. Source: https://x.com/RevanthRajeev/status/2111894367749406853 Tools they used: Claude Code, OpenAI Codex Category: Dev & ops Please: 1. Ask me 3 short questions about my situation (accounts I have, budget, what I want the output to look like). 2. Propose a step-by-step plan using these tools or cheaper alternatives, with the time and cost of each step. Use official pricing pages; say "check pricing" if unsure. 3. Then do the setup with me one step at a time, waiting for my OK before anything that sends messages, posts publicly, spends money or deletes data. 4. Finish with a checklist to run it again next time.
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Guides for this use case
How to vibe code an app with Claude Code · How to run multiple coding agents together · How to use AI agents for taxes, bills and budgets · How to undo, checkpoint and stop runaway coding agents
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