agent hallucinated renewal dates from a truncated contract export

Not specified by the original author.

TL;DR

Never infer dates: mark unknown renewals as unknown and fail loudly on truncated input. A truncated export has no date information, and anything the agent reports is invented.

Error

(audit lists renewal 2026-11-01; contract shows 2027-02-15; the CSV was truncated mid-row; no parser error)

Steps

1. Confirm the hallucination: compare reported dates against the source contracts. Expected: the invented dates identified.
2. Check the export for truncation: row counts versus the source, or a cut-off final row. Expected: the truncation confirmed.
3. Change the agent to validate export completeness (expected row count or a trailer record) before parsing, and to emit "unknown" for missing dates. Expected: validation in place, no invented dates.
4. Re-run the audit on a complete export. Expected: dates match the contracts.

When to use

• Reported dates do not match the contracts
• The export may be truncated
• The agent fills gaps instead of flagging them

When not to use

• The export is complete and dates are wrong (a mapping problem)
• Dates are missing but marked unknown (correct behavior)
• The parser errors on the file (a parse problem)

Tool compatibility

Any contract or billing CSV pipeline.

Variant phrasings

agent interpolates dates from neighboring rows

Same fix: unknown means unknown. Interpolation is invention.

truncation only in scheduled runs

The scheduled export hits a timeout or size cap. Fix the export job.

Why it happens

Language models abhor blanks and fill them with plausible values. Without a completeness check, a truncated file looks like a complete file with a few missing cells, and the model obliges.

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pstbwSn1HtjFHTfk4bymwojA

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pstbwSn1HtjFHTfk4bymwojA

Thread query: agent hallucinated renewal dates from a truncated contract export

TL;DR: Never infer dates: mark unknown renewals as unknown and fail loudly on truncated input. A truncated export has no date information, and anything the agent reports is invented.

Not specified by the original author.

TL;DR

Fix this in renewal reminder agent by acting on the exact problem first: fill the reminder term fields only from the extracted contract record, show the agent the source clause text for the term it cites, and block the send when a term in the draft has no matching clause in the contract. Do not rerun the whole workflow unchanged, because the same inputs produce the same failure. Prove the fix on one account first, then rerun the full scope and reconcile the results.

agent hallucinating contract term not in source data for send a 90 day renewal reminder

Use this when

• The operation in renewal reminder agent fails with this exact problem: agent hallucinating contract term not in source data for send a 90 day renewal reminder.
• The same failure repeats on retry with unchanged inputs.
• A renewal, reminder, quote or playbook step is blocked until this is resolved.

Not for this skill when

• The notice is a platform outage from the vendor. Resolve that first, then return here if this problem remains.
• The operation completes and you only disagree with a commercial decision such as price or terms. That is a negotiation, not this failure.

Steps

1. Reproduce the failure on one named account in renewal reminder agent and record the full problem text plus the account, contract or quote involved. Verify: the failure is reproduced on demand on a named scope, not only seen in a log.
2. Apply the specific fix for this problem: fill the reminder term fields only from the extracted contract record, show the agent the source clause text for the term it cites, and block the send when a term in the draft has no matching clause in the contract. Verify: the single failing account now behaves as the fix predicts, or the corrected value is visible on the record.
3. Check neighbouring accounts, contracts or quotes that share the same automation, template or sync, because this class of failure rarely affects only one account. Verify: the neighbouring items are listed and each is marked affected or clear.
4. Rerun the original operation in renewal reminder agent on the previously failing scope, watching for the same problem rather than assuming success from a quiet log. Verify: the operation completes and the original problem does not appear.
5. Compare the result against the source of truth, the signed contract, the billing record or the CRM opportunity, so a silent partial success is caught. Verify: values match the source or every difference is named and explained.
6. Record the fix, the triggering input and the verification result on the account so the next occurrence is recognised immediately. Verify: the record names the problem, the fix applied and the evidence of success.

Variant phrasings

agent hallucinating contract term not in source data for send a 90 day renewal reminder

The verbatim form searchers paste from the console, report or run log. Treat it identically: same fix, same single account proof, then the full rerun.

How to fix - agent hallucinating contract term not in source data for send a 90 day renewal reminder error hallucination failure

The how to phrasing for the same failure in renewal reminder agent. The steps above apply unchanged; start at the reproduction step rather than skipping to the rerun.

renewal reminder agent troubleshooting for this failure

The symptom first phrasing used when the console hides the full problem. Surface the full problem first, confirm it matches the text block above, then follow the steps.

Why it happens

A reminder template with empty term fields invites the agent to invent a plausible term, and a source clause check before sending catches invented terms while they are still drafts.

Edge cases

• The account was amended, reassigned or re priced after the failing run started. Refresh the account state and reapply the fix against the current values, not the values from the failed run.
• The single account proof passes but the full rerun still fails on other accounts. Treat each remaining failure as its own scope, because a shared automation can hide more than one cause.
• The source systems disagree on the correct value. The signed contract governs dates and prices, the billing system governs amounts charged, and the CRM governs ownership; record which source won and why.

Compatibility: renewal reminder agent at current versions, plus the CRM, billing or CS platform the query names; no extra tooling beyond access to the source records needed to verify results.

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pstzAXK9g9kJuy2fz2F6fM3A

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pstzAXK9g9kJuy2fz2F6fM3A

Thread query: agent hallucinating contract term not in source data for send a 90 day renewal reminder error hallucination failure

TL;DR: Fix this in renewal reminder agent by acting on the exact problem first: fill the reminder term fields only from the extracted contract record, show the agent the source clause text for the term it cites, and block the send when a term in the draft has no matching clause in the contract. Do not rerun the whole workflow unchanged, because the same inputs produce the same failure. Prove the fix on one account first, then rerun the full scope and reconcile the results.

Not specified by the original author.

TL;DR

Fix this in the clause agent workflow by acting on the exact problem first: require the agent to quote the source clause text it used for the task to export the clause report for executed agreements, reject any answer whose quoted text is not found in the clause bank, rerun the step with retrieval only, and confirm every statement in the output traces to a retrieved clause. Do not rerun the same workflow unchanged, because the same inputs produce the same failure. Prove the fix on one workflow run first, then rerun the full scope and reconcile the results.

agent hallucinating answers not in source data for export the clause report for executed agreements error hallucination failure

Use this when

• The agent workflow fails with this exact problem: agent hallucinating answers not in source data for export the clause report for executed agreements error hallucination failure.
• The same failure repeats on retry with unchanged inputs.
• A clause search, drafting, review or reporting task run by the agent is blocked until this is resolved.

Not for this skill when

• The notice is a platform outage from the vendor or the clause bank provider. Resolve that first, then return here if this problem remains.
• The operation completes and you only disagree with a clause wording or negotiation position. That is a legal owner decision, not this failure.

Steps

1. Reproduce the failure on one named run of the task to export the clause report for executed agreements and record the full problem text plus the contract or clause set involved. Verify: the failure is reproduced on demand on a named run, not only seen in a log.
2. Apply the specific fix for this problem: require the agent to quote the source clause text it used for the task to export the clause report for executed agreements, reject any answer whose quoted text is not found in the clause bank, rerun the step with retrieval only, and confirm every statement in the output traces to a retrieved clause. Verify: the single failing workflow run now behaves as the fix predicts, or the corrected output is visible on the run.
3. Check neighbouring steps in the same workflow that share the same clause bank connection, playbook or session, because this class of failure rarely affects only one step. Verify: the neighbouring steps are listed and each is marked affected or clear.
4. Rerun the original task in the workflow on the previously failing scope, watching for the same problem rather than assuming success from a quiet log. Verify: the task completes and the original problem does not appear.
5. Compare the result against the source of truth, the clause bank record, the playbook position or the source document, so a silent partial success is caught. Verify: values match the source or every difference is named and explained.
6. Record the fix, the triggering input and the verification result on the workflow run log so the next occurrence is recognised immediately. Verify: the record names the problem, the fix applied and the evidence of success.

Variant phrasings

agent hallucinating answers not in source data for export the clause report for executed agreements error hallucination failure

The verbatim form searchers paste from the console, report or run log. Treat it identically: same fix, same single workflow run proof, then the full rerun.

How to fix - agent hallucinating answers not in source data for export the clause report for executed agreements error hallucination failure

The how to phrasing for the same failure in the clause agent workflow. The steps above apply unchanged; start at the reproduction step rather than skipping to the rerun.

The clause agent workflow troubleshooting for this failure

The symptom first phrasing used when the console hides the full problem. Surface the full problem first, confirm it matches the text block above, then follow the steps.

Why it happens

When retrieval returns thin or empty results the model still produces a fluent answer from general patterns, so clause wording, dates and positions appear in the output that no source document contains.

Edge cases

• The clause bank, playbook or source document changed after the failing run started. Refresh the current state and reapply the fix against the current values, not the values from the failed run.
• The single workflow run proof passes but the full rerun still fails on other contracts. Treat each remaining failure as its own scope, because a shared connection, playbook or session can hide more than one cause.
• The source systems disagree on the correct value. The clause bank governs approved wording, the playbook governs negotiation position, and the source document governs extracted facts; record which source won and why.

Compatibility: Clause library and agent workflow tooling at current versions, plus the clause bank, playbook or document source the query names; no extra tooling beyond access to the source records needed to verify results.

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_YQwd79crHzZobItRLQx37Q

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_YQwd79crHzZobItRLQx37Q

Thread query: agent hallucinating answers not in source data for export the clause report for executed agreements error hallucination failure

TL;DR: Fix this in the clause agent workflow by acting on the exact problem first: require the agent to quote the source clause text it used for the task to export the clause report for executed agreements, reject any answer whose quoted text is not found in the clause bank, rerun the step with retrieval only, and confirm every statement in the output traces to a retrieved clause. Do not rerun the same workflow unchanged, because the same inputs produce the same failure. Prove the fix on one workflow run first, then rerun the full scope and reconcile the results.