agent loop detected: repeatedly describing the same failed deploy in triage

Not specified by the original author.

TL;DR: Ban the summary-only triage pass. Every triage round must end with exactly one new diagnostic action - a command to run, a log to pull, a diff to inspect - and the agent must keep a seen-states list of error signatures. After three passes with no new evidence, it escalates or changes strategy instead of writing a fourth description. Summaries feel like progress but change nothing.

agent loop detected: repeatedly describing the same failed deploy in triage

Steps

1. Write the current hypothesis as one sentence, plus the single command that would prove it wrong. Expected: you have a falsifiable command, not a paragraph of description.
2. Start a seen-states list. After each pass, append the error signature: the first line of the error plus which step failed. Expected: if a new pass produces a signature already in the list, it is declared a loop and no new summary is written.
3. Require every pass to end with exactly one new diagnostic action. Expected: each action returns output you have not seen yet - a new log line, a new command result, a diff.
4. Diff the deploy output between passes instead of re-reading it. Expected: the diff shows whether anything actually changed since the last pass.
5. Cap it: three passes with no new evidence means escalate. Either switch the repair layer (config vs code vs account vs network) or report back with the evidence gathered. Expected: the agent never writes a fourth identical summary.
6. Log the loop break explicitly: what was tried, what the evidence showed, what changed. Expected: the next agent (or the next run) starts from evidence, not from zero.

Use this when

• triage passes produce descriptions of the failed deploy but no new commands or checks
• the agent's output reads the same on pass 4 as on pass 1
• a deploy failure has been "analyzed" multiple times with no repair attempted
• you need a forcing function that turns observation into action

Not for this skill when

• the failure is already diagnosed and just needs the fix applied - skip triage, apply it
• each pass genuinely uncovers new evidence - that's working triage, not a loop
• the deploy error changes between passes - the loop is already broken
• a human is driving - this guard is for autonomous runs

Variant phrasings

• agent keeps summarizing the failed deploy without acting
• triage loop with no new diagnostic steps
• agent describes the same Workers deploy failure every pass
• analysis paralysis on a failed Cloudflare deploy

Why it happens

Summarization is cheap and reads like progress, so an agent with no forcing function re-derives the same conclusion forever. Triage is a state machine - hypothesis, test, evidence, next hypothesis - and without the seen-states list and the action requirement, there's nothing pushing the state forward.

Edge cases

• A genuinely novel failure can look like a loop for two passes. The three-pass cap with the layer-switch rule handles this: new layer, new evidence.
• Don't confuse "same root cause, new evidence" with a loop. The signature list tracks evidence, not conclusions.
• If the deploy output is nondeterministic (flaky), diffing misleads. Note the flakiness explicitly and triage the flake, not the deploy.
• Long runs lose the seen-states list if it only lives in context. Persist it to the run's working files.

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_ezT4VLgZmBDxJHm39iwq6Q

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_ezT4VLgZmBDxJHm39iwq6Q

Thread query: agent loop detected: repeatedly describing the same failed deploy in triage

TL;DR:

Not specified by the original author.

TL;DR

Fix this in moderation queue triage agent by acting on the exact problem first: break the loop by keeping a visited set of report ids already decided, refusing to score the same report twice, and stopping after three repeats of the same trust level value with a log line naming the report that caused the repeat. Do not rerun the whole job or queue unchanged, because the same inputs produce the same failure. Prove the fix on one post, thread, report or batch first, then rerun the full scope and reconcile the counts.

Loop detected - agent repeating the same trust level while triaging the moderation queue

Use this when

• The operation in moderation queue triage agent fails with this exact message or symptom: Loop detected - agent repeating the same trust level while triaging the moderation queue.
• The same failure repeats on retry with unchanged inputs.
• Moderation, routing, auditing or a member facing community task is blocked until this item completes.

Not for this skill when

• The message is an outage notice from the platform. Resolve that first, then return here if this problem remains.
• The operation completes and you only disagree with a moderation judgment or content quality. That is a policy review, not this failure.

Steps

1. Reproduce the failure with the smallest scope that still shows it in moderation queue triage agent, and copy the full message plus the post, thread, report or member involved into the run notes. Verify: the problem is reproduced on demand with a named scope, not only seen in a log.
2. Apply the specific fix for this problem: break the loop by keeping a visited set of report ids already decided, refusing to score the same report twice, and stopping after three repeats of the same trust level value with a log line naming the report that caused the repeat. Verify: the smallest failing scope now completes, or the named post, thread or report behaves as the fix predicts.
3. Check the neighbouring posts, threads, reports or members that share the same setting, rule or workflow, because this class of failure rarely affects only one item. Verify: the neighbouring items are listed and each is marked affected or clear.
4. Rerun the original operation in moderation queue triage agent on the previously failing scope, watching for the same message rather than assuming success from a quiet log. Verify: the operation completes and the original message does not appear.
5. Compare the result counts or status against the source in moderation queue triage agent so a silent partial success is caught before sign off. Verify: counts match the source or every difference is named and explained.
6. Record the fix, the triggering input and the verification result on the item so the next occurrence is recognised immediately. Verify: the record names the problem, the fix applied and the evidence of success.

Why it happens

Without a visited set, the agent re-reads the same top report after each action, recomputes the same trust level, and never advances the queue cursor.

Variant phrasings

Loop detected - agent repeating the same trust level while triaging the moderation queue

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

How to fix - agent stuck loop detected repeating the same trust level while trying to triage the moderation queue error failure

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

moderation queue triage agent troubleshooting for this failure

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

Edge cases

• If the fix works on the small scope but the full rerun still fails on a different item, treat that item as a new instance, record its scope separately, and apply the same steps rather than widening the first fix blindly.
• If members or reports are affected in a way that cannot be undone, such as a sent digest or a deleted post, restore or notify from the audit record first, then apply the fix, and note the affected count in the run record.
• If two settings or rules could both produce this symptom, change one at a time and retest the small scope after each change, so the working fix is known rather than guessed.

Compatibility: moderation queue triage agent at current versions, plus the admin console, moderation queue or API the query names; no extra tooling beyond the source system access needed to verify counts.

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pstKqN2cNYYBv7OFFFQ854zA

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pstKqN2cNYYBv7OFFFQ854zA

Thread query: agent stuck loop detected repeating the same trust level while trying to triage the moderation queue error failure

TL;DR: Fix this in moderation queue triage agent by acting on the exact problem first: break the loop by keeping a visited set of report ids already decided, refusing to score the same report twice, and stopping after three repeats of the same trust level value with a log line naming the report that caused the repeat. Do not rerun the whole job or queue unchanged, because the same inputs produce the same failure. Prove the fix on one post, thread, report or batch first, then rerun the full scope and reconcile the counts.

Not specified by the original author.

TL;DR

When an agent run to submit the Play release hits this failure - kept repeating the same step and failed - do not retry the same step blindly. First check the real state in the release API to learn whether the step already took effect, then break the loop with a hard attempt budget, a state check before every retry, and a stop-and-report rule: before repeating the step, read the real store state and only repeat it if the desired end state is demonstrably absent, and never more than the budgeted times. That sequence prevents duplicate uploads, corrupted release state and silent half-finished releases.

agent loop detected: agent kept repeating the same submit the Play release step and failed with error

Use this when

• An automated release run to submit the Play release failed with this pattern.
• The workflow uses the release API and the failure appeared mid-run, after earlier steps may already have applied.
• You are hardening a mobile release agent before its next unattended run.

Not for this skill when

• A human running the same step manually in a terminal or console succeeds. That points at the underlying tool, not the agent wrapper.
• The store rejected the release on policy or metadata grounds. That is a store review issue, not an agent reliability failure.

Steps

1. Stop the run and check the release API for how many times the step actually took effect, for example duplicate builds, releases or uploads created by the repetitions. Verify: the number of real side effects is counted from the store, not the log
2. Clean up or clearly mark any duplicates the loop created, keeping the one correct artefact. Verify: only the intended artefact remains active
3. Add an attempt counter in a state file outside the conversation, incremented before each try of this step, with a small maximum such as three. Verify: the counter exists and the workflow reads it before attempting the step
4. Add a precondition check: before the step, read the store state and skip the step if the desired end state already exists. Verify: a test run with the end state present skips the step and logs why
5. Add a stop rule: when the budget is exhausted, the agent stops and reports the last observed state and error instead of trying again. Verify: a forced-failure test ends with a report, not another attempt
6. Re-run the workflow to submit the Play release and watch the step execute at most the budgeted number of times. Verify: the run completes or stops cleanly within the budget
7. Record the fix in the release runbook or the CI job notes, naming the error, the value or setting that changed, and the date, so the next release engineer does not re-diagnose it from scratch. Verify: the runbook or job notes contain an entry for this error that a teammate can find by searching the error text

Why it happens

Agents loop when a step returns an ambiguous result and the plan has no memory of attempts. Without an external state check and a counter outside the conversation, the model re-derives the same next action forever, and each repetition can create real duplicates in the store.

In practice this failure is rarely a one-off. It tends to recur at the worst point in the release cycle, when a certificate, a toolchain, a store policy or a team process has quietly changed since the last successful release and nobody connected that change to the release pipeline. That is why the steps above insist on reading the actual store, portal or build state at each point instead of trusting configuration files or memory: the configuration usually describes the release the team intended to ship, while this error describes the release the systems actually see. Once the immediate upload or build is unblocked, treat the underlying drift as the real defect. Pin the toolchain version, expiry date, identifier or policy value that caused it in the release checklist, and add the cheapest automatic check that would have caught it before submission day, for example a preflight lane that validates signing, versions and metadata lengths before the full archive runs. A release pipeline that fails in preflight costs minutes; the same failure discovered at submission costs a day.

Variants and edge cases

agent failed to submit the Play release reliability playbook

The workflow-hardening phrasing: state checks, budgets and resumability for this step. When you land on this skill from that phrasing, start at step 1 rather than jumping to the most dramatic fix: the early steps are cheap state checks that confirm you are solving the failure you actually have, and they take minutes compared with a rebuild or a store-side change you cannot undo.

the release API agent workflow failure recovery

The recovery phrasing: establish real store state first, then resume without duplicating applied steps. When you land on this skill from that phrasing, start at step 1 rather than jumping to the most dramatic fix: the early steps are cheap state checks that confirm you are solving the failure you actually have, and they take minutes compared with a rebuild or a store-side change you cannot undo.

Edge case: partial application

The hardest variant of every agent failure is the half-applied release. Always reconcile store state before resuming, even when the log looks clean. When you land on this skill from that phrasing, start at step 1 rather than jumping to the most dramatic fix: the early steps are cheap state checks that confirm you are solving the failure you actually have, and they take minutes compared with a rebuild or a store-side change you cannot undo.

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_u5vm7VvumijsKG6W6yyKpg

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_u5vm7VvumijsKG6W6yyKpg

Thread query: agent loop detected: agent kept repeating the same submit the Play release step and failed with error

TL;DR: When an agent run to submit the Play release hits this failure - kept repeating the same step and failed - do not retry the same step blindly. First check the real state in the release API to learn whether the step already took effect, then break the loop with a hard attempt budget, a state check before every retry, and a stop-and-report rule: before repeating the step, read the real store state and only repeat it if the desired end state is demonstrably absent, and never more than the budgeted times. That sequence prevents duplicate uploads, corrupted release state and silent half-finished re