diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c41c7c4..f95dacd 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ Syntax highlighting and language support for **EFTL (ElixForms Template Language
 - `[EFTL]...[/EFTL]` - Main EFTL block
 - `[VAR name="..." type="..."]...[/VAR]` - Variable declarations
 - `[IF]...[/IF]` - Conditionals
-- `[WHILE]...[/WHILE]` - Loops
+- `[WHILE threshold="..."]...[/WHILE]` - Loops with an optional string threshold
 
 ### Expressions
 
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ Syntax highlighting and language support for **EFTL (ElixForms Template Language
 ### Control Structures
 
 - `[IF]`, `[CONDITION]`, `[THEN]`, `[ELSE]`, `[ELSE IF]`
-- `[WHILE]`, `[DO]`
+- `[WHILE]`, `[WHILE threshold="..."]`, `[DO]`
 
 ### Comments
 
@@ -105,25 +105,26 @@ If you want to debug the extension or the language server:
 
 ## Snippets
 
-| Prefix      | Description            |
-| ----------- | ---------------------- |
-| `eftl`      | EFTL block with header |
-| `var`       | Variable declaration   |
-| `vartag`    | Variable from TAG      |
-| `varschema` | Variable from SCHEMAID |
-| `if`        | IF statement           |
-| `ifelse`    | IF-ELSE statement      |
-| `while`     | WHILE loop             |
-| `split`     | Split function         |
-| `trim`      | Trim function          |
-| `valueof`   | VALUE_OF function      |
-| `sizeof`    | SIZE_OF function       |
-| `contains`  | CONTAINS function      |
-| `formatnum` | Format number          |
-| `tag`       | GETVALUEBYTAG tag      |
-| `schema`    | SCHEMAID tag           |
-| `out`       | Output expression      |
-| `comment`   | Comment block          |
+| Prefix           | Description               |
+| ---------------- | ------------------------- |
+| `eftl`           | EFTL block with header    |
+| `var`            | Variable declaration      |
+| `vartag`         | Variable from TAG         |
+| `varschema`      | Variable from SCHEMAID    |
+| `if`             | IF statement              |
+| `ifelse`         | IF-ELSE statement         |
+| `while`          | WHILE loop                |
+| `whilethreshold` | WHILE loop with threshold |
+| `split`          | Split function            |
+| `trim`           | Trim function             |
+| `valueof`        | VALUE_OF function         |
+| `sizeof`         | SIZE_OF function          |
+| `contains`       | CONTAINS function         |
+| `formatnum`      | Format number             |
+| `tag`            | GETVALUEBYTAG tag         |
+| `schema`         | SCHEMAID tag              |
+| `out`            | Output expression         |
+| `comment`        | Comment block             |
 
 ## Example
 
diff --git a/examples/sample2.eftl b/examples/sample2.eftl
index 9356349..1d4ce8a 100644
--- a/examples/sample2.eftl
+++ b/examples/sample2.eftl
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 [VAR name="CONTRAENTI" type="iterable"][SPLIT regex="\n"][TRIM][TAG]SCHEMAID,296,COL0004,IUQOID, , [/TAG][/TRIM][/SPLIT][/VAR]
 [VAR name="CONTRAENTI_NUM" type="number"][SIZE_OF varname="CONTRAENTI" /][/VAR]
 
-[WHILE]
+[WHILE threshold="99"]
     [CONDITION][% IDX < CONTRAENTI_NUM %][/CONDITION]
     [DO]
         [VAR name="CONTRAENTE" type="string"][VALUE_OF varname="CONTRAENTI" index="IDX" /][/VAR]
diff --git a/language-configuration.json b/language-configuration.json
index ccaee28..e99b4ab 100644
--- a/language-configuration.json
+++ b/language-configuration.json
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
     ["[EFTL]", "[/EFTL]"],
     ["[VAR", "[/VAR]"],
     ["[IF]", "[/IF]"],
-    ["[WHILE]", "[/WHILE]"],
+    ["[WHILE", "[/WHILE]"],
     ["[FORMAT", "[/FORMAT]"],
     ["[CONDITION]", "[/CONDITION]"],
     ["[THEN]", "[/THEN]"],
diff --git a/snippets/eftl.json b/snippets/eftl.json
index 6cc3d1d..05da051 100644
--- a/snippets/eftl.json
+++ b/snippets/eftl.json
@@ -79,6 +79,18 @@
     ],
     "description": "Create a WHILE loop"
   },
+  "While Loop with Threshold": {
+    "prefix": "whilethreshold",
+    "body": [
+      "[WHILE threshold=\"${1:99}\"]",
+      "    [CONDITION][% ${2:condition} %][/CONDITION]",
+      "    [DO]",
+      "        $0",
+      "    [/DO]",
+      "[/WHILE]"
+    ],
+    "description": "Create a WHILE loop with a threshold"
+  },
   "Split": {
     "prefix": "split",
     "body": [
diff --git a/src/parser.ts b/src/parser.ts
index 50ffb23..8da550a 100644
--- a/src/parser.ts
+++ b/src/parser.ts
@@ -128,6 +128,9 @@ export class EftlParser {
                 break;
 
             case TokenType.WHILE_OPEN:
+                if (!/^\[WHILE(?:\s+threshold\s*=\s*"[^"]*")?\s*\]$/.test(token.value)) {
+                    this.addError(token, 'WHILE accepts only the optional string attribute threshold="..."');
+                }
                 this.pushBlock(token);
                 this.advance();
                 break;
diff --git a/src/tokenizer.ts b/src/tokenizer.ts
index 04dcbcb..cf7f666 100644
--- a/src/tokenizer.ts
+++ b/src/tokenizer.ts
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ export enum TokenType {
     ELSE_CLOSE = 'ELSE_CLOSE',         // [/ELSE]
     ELSE_IF_OPEN = 'ELSE_IF_OPEN',     // [ELSE IF]
     ELSE_IF_CLOSE = 'ELSE_IF_CLOSE',   // [/ELSE IF]
-    WHILE_OPEN = 'WHILE_OPEN',         // [WHILE]
+    WHILE_OPEN = 'WHILE_OPEN',         // [WHILE ...]
     WHILE_CLOSE = 'WHILE_CLOSE',       // [/WHILE]
     DO_OPEN = 'DO_OPEN',               // [DO]
     DO_CLOSE = 'DO_CLOSE',             // [/DO]
@@ -192,6 +192,11 @@ export class EftlTokenizer {
                 this.addToken(TokenType.WHILE_OPEN, '[WHILE]', startLine, startColumn);
                 return;
             }
+            if (this.source.startsWith('[WHILE', this.pos) && /\s/.test(this.source[this.pos + '[WHILE'.length] || '')) {
+                this.match('[WHILE');
+                this.scanTagWithAttributes(TokenType.WHILE_OPEN, 'WHILE', startLine, startColumn);
+                return;
+            }
             if (this.match('[/WHILE]')) {
                 this.addToken(TokenType.WHILE_CLOSE, '[/WHILE]', startLine, startColumn);
                 return;
diff --git a/syntaxes/eftl.tmLanguage.json b/syntaxes/eftl.tmLanguage.json
index 52e4ad2..a80c2fb 100644
--- a/syntaxes/eftl.tmLanguage.json
+++ b/syntaxes/eftl.tmLanguage.json
@@ -236,9 +236,24 @@
           "name": "keyword.control.conditional.eftl",
           "match": "\\[(IF|ELSE IF|ELSE|/IF|CONDITION|/CONDITION|THEN|/THEN|/ELSE IF|/ELSE)\\]"
         },
+        {
+          "name": "meta.control.loop.eftl",
+          "begin": "(\\[)(WHILE)\\b",
+          "end": "(\\])",
+          "beginCaptures": {
+            "1": { "name": "keyword.control.loop.eftl" },
+            "2": { "name": "keyword.control.loop.eftl" }
+          },
+          "endCaptures": {
+            "1": { "name": "keyword.control.loop.eftl" }
+          },
+          "patterns": [
+            { "include": "#attributes" }
+          ]
+        },
         {
           "name": "keyword.control.loop.eftl",
-          "match": "\\[(WHILE|/WHILE|DO|/DO)\\]"
+          "match": "\\[(/WHILE|DO|/DO)\\]"
         }
       ]
     },