It actually can with the right wrapper. I built an open source loop driver that runs Claude Code CLI autonomously with --dangerously-skip-permissions. It handles session continuity (--resume), budget enforcement, stagnation detection (two-strike system if turns stay low), and auto model fallback (Opus -> Sonnet on consecutive timeouts).
The key is streaming NDJSON output to track cost per iteration and detect completion markers. The human stays in control by editing CLAUDE.md between runs to steer the project.