dedup agent stuck in a loop re-checking the same 100 contacts

Not specified by the original author.

TL;DR

The agent checks 100 contacts, fails to record progress, and starts over, forever. Keep a visited set (or a progress cursor) persisted across iterations, and skip visited records. A scan that cannot remember where it was cannot finish.

Error

(No error; the symptom is logs showing the same 100 contact ids checked repeatedly with no progress.)

Steps

1. Confirm the repetition: compare contact ids across log windows. Expected: the same set recurs.
2. Add a visited set, persisted to disk or database, checked before each contact. Expected: each contact checked once.
3. Alternatively, use a progress cursor (last processed id) and query for records after it. Expected: forward-only progress.
4. Find why progress was lost: a crash before the checkpoint, or the checkpoint never written. Expected: the root cause, not just the symptom.
5. Add a watchdog: if no new records are processed in N minutes, alert. Expected: future stalls page someone.

When to use

• Scans repeat the same records without advancing.
• An agent's progress resets on every iteration.
• Logs show cyclic contact ids.

When not to use

• Matching finds nothing (accuracy, different fix).
• Intentional re-scans on a schedule (those should still track runs).

Tool compatibility

• Visited sets and cursors in the agent.
• Persistent storage for progress.

Variant phrasings

scan never advances

Persist a visited set or cursor.

re-checking the same contacts

Progress is not being recorded.

Why it happens

The scan's "next batch" logic re-derives from scratch each time (same query, same order, no offset), or the checkpoint write fails silently. Either way, iteration two starts where iteration one did.

Edge cases

• Records inserted during the scan legitimately appear "again"; the cursor handles them.
• Visited sets grow large; use a database or bloom filter, not memory.
• Restarts should resume from the persisted cursor, not from zero.

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_2yc6cQZQMqeltDAIvpHwKA

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_2yc6cQZQMqeltDAIvpHwKA

Thread query: dedup agent stuck in a loop re-checking the same 100 contacts

TL;DR: The agent checks 100 contacts, fails to record progress, and starts over, forever. Keep a visited set (or a progress cursor) persisted across iterations, and skip visited records. A scan that cannot remember where it was cannot finish.

Not specified by the original author.

TL;DR

Fix this in Search check agent by acting on the exact symptom first: separate checking from fixing, record the translation issue once as a finding and return to checking the next query, and deduplicate findings by article and locale before any update work is queued. Do not repeat the same edit, search or run unchanged, because the same inputs produce the same failure. Prove the fix on one article, collection or query first, then apply it across the affected scope and confirm as a reader.

Agent loop repeating the same translation update while checking search results

Use this when

• Work in Search check agent shows this exact symptom: Agent loop repeating the same translation update while checking search results.
• The same symptom repeats after a retry with unchanged inputs.
• Readers or support agents are blocked until this item is corrected.

Not for this skill when

• The help center platform itself is down or returning outage notices. Resolve that first, then return here if this symptom remains.
• The content is correct and you only want a style or tone rewrite. That is an editorial pass, not this fix.

Steps

1. Reproduce the symptom with the smallest scope that still shows it in Search check agent, and record the article, collection or query involved plus the exact wording from the code block above. Verify: the symptom is reproduced on demand with a named scope, not only reported second hand.
2. Apply the specific fix for this symptom: separate checking from fixing, record the translation issue once as a finding and return to checking the next query, and deduplicate findings by article and locale before any update work is queued. Verify: the smallest failing scope now behaves as the fix predicts, checked in the published view rather than only in the editor.
3. Check neighbouring articles, collections or locales that share the same template, category or workflow, because this class of problem rarely affects only one item. Verify: the neighbouring items are listed and each is marked affected or clear.
4. Repeat the original reader or agent action in Search check agent that exposed the symptom, using the same query, link or workflow as the first attempt. Verify: the action completes and the original symptom does not appear.
5. Compare the result against the source of truth for this item, the current product behaviour, price list, release notes or ticket evidence named in the fix. Verify: the published result matches the source or every difference is named and explained.
6. Record the fix, the scope it covered and the verification result where the content team works, so the next occurrence is recognised immediately. Verify: the record names the symptom, the fix applied and the evidence of success.

Variant phrasings

Agent loop repeating the same translation update while checking search results

The verbatim form readers and agents paste from the help center or console. Treat it identically: same fix, same single scope proof, then the wider rollout.

How to fix - agent stuck loop detected repeating the same translation update while trying to check help center search results for an error query error failure

The how to phrasing for the same problem in Search check agent. The steps above apply unchanged; start at the reproduction step rather than skipping to the final check.

Search check agent troubleshooting for this symptom

The symptom first phrasing used when the full message is hidden. Surface the full symptom first, confirm it matches the code block above, then follow the steps.

Why it happens

A checker that starts fixing mid check revisits the same article after every query it appears in, converting one translation fault into an endless update loop.

Edge cases

• The symptom appears in one locale, collection or audience view only. Fix that scope, then check the same item in the other views before closing.
• A cached or indexed copy keeps showing the old state after the fix. Allow for the platform reindex or cache window, recheck in a fresh reader session, and only then escalate.
• Two items have near identical titles. Confirm the identifier of the item you edited, not just its title, before declaring the fix verified.

Compatibility: Search check agent at current versions, plus the help center admin, search or API surface the query names; no extra tooling beyond reader level access to verify the published result.

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_BtKJ9jw-Jk2-F748Xc2lTw

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_BtKJ9jw-Jk2-F748Xc2lTw

Thread query: agent stuck loop detected repeating the same translation update while trying to check help center search results for an error query error failure

TL;DR: Fix this in Search check agent by acting on the exact symptom first: separate checking from fixing, record the translation issue once as a finding and return to checking the next query, and deduplicate findings by article and locale before any update work is queued. Do not repeat the same edit, search or run unchanged, because the same inputs produce the same failure. Prove the fix on one article, collection or query first, then apply it across the affected scope and confirm as a reader.

Not specified by the original author.

TL;DR

Scanning 200k contacts in one pass exceeds every timeout in the chain. Split the scan into chunks of a few thousand, persist a checkpoint after each chunk, and compare within and across chunks using blocking keys. A crashed run resumes from the checkpoint instead of restarting.

Error

Agent timeout: contact scan exceeded the 30-minute execution limit at 142,000 of 200,000 records.

Steps

1. Change the scan to fetch contacts in pages (100 per request) and process page by page. Expected: memory stays flat and each page completes fast.
2. Write a checkpoint (last processed cursor or id) after every page. Expected: progress survives crashes.
3. Use blocking to avoid comparing every pair: group by a blocking key (email domain, phone digits, name trigram) and only compare within blocks. Expected: comparisons drop from billions to thousands.
4. On startup, read the checkpoint and resume from it. Expected: reruns continue, never restart.
5. Run the scan during off-hours and pace requests to stay under rate limits. Expected: no 429s interrupting the scan.

When to use

• A dedupe scan times out on large contact tables.
• An agent loads all contacts into memory and dies.
• After a crash, the scan restarts from zero.

When not to use

• 429 rate limits (pacing, different fix).
• The scan finishes but finds nothing (matching logic, different fix).

Tool compatibility

• HubSpot contacts list API with cursor pagination.
• Any agent runtime with execution time limits.

Variant phrasings

scan timed out partway

Chunk and checkpoint.

out of memory on full export

Page instead of loading everything.

Why it happens

Full-table scans combine slow paging, growing memory, and fixed agent timeouts. The work is inherently chunkable, but the naive implementation treats it as one job.

Edge cases

• Blocking keys that are too coarse create giant blocks; use composite keys.
• Contacts updated during the scan can be missed; run a catch-up pass at the end.
• Checkpoint writes must be atomic; a torn checkpoint is worse than none.

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_UeICSoxaeu1cn2ITXPwAVg

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_UeICSoxaeu1cn2ITXPwAVg

Thread query: dedup agent failed with timeout scanning 200k hubspot contacts

TL;DR: Scanning 200k contacts in one pass exceeds every timeout in the chain. Split the scan into chunks of a few thousand, persist a checkpoint after each chunk, and compare within and across chunks using blocking keys. A crashed run resumes from the checkpoint instead of restarting.