agent looped — extractor flagged a clause as needs context, the cont

Not specified by the original author.

Extractor / context-fetcher loop burns the step budget on one clause

TL;DR

Track which chunks you have already served and widen the context on repeat requests instead of re-serving the same chunk. The extractor asks for context, the fetcher hands back the identical chunk, and the agent spins until its step budget dies. Cap retries per clause, then escalate to human review.

step 41: extractor flags clause 12 "needs context" -> fetcher returns chunk 88 (already served at steps 39, 40) -> repeat until budget exhausted

1. Keep a served-chunk set per clause. If the fetcher is about to return a chunk id it already served for this clause, refuse and widen instead. Expected: the loop breaks on the first repeat.

2. Widen, do not retry. On a "needs context" flag, serve the chunk plus its neighbors rather than the same slice. Expected: the extractor sees new text on its second attempt.

3. Cap retries at 3 per clause, then mark it "needs_review" and move on. Expected: stubborn clauses land in review and the run finishes.

4. Make the extractor say what is missing. "Need the 3 sentences before this chunk" beats a bare "needs context". Expected: the fetcher can target instead of guessing.

Use this when

• a run dies at max steps with the same chunk id fetched repeatedly
• the tool-call log shows extractor/fetcher ping-pong on one clause
• one clause consumes a wildly disproportionate share of the step budget
• "needs context" appears with no description of what context

Not for this skill when

• the fetcher returns different chunks each time but the extractor still cannot proceed (a comprehension failure)
• the loop involves more than two tools or an external API (a broader orchestration bug)
• the step budget is simply too small for the document size (raise the budget)

Variant phrasings

• agent loop extractor needs context same chunk returned
• context fetcher infinite loop contract review agent
• agent step budget exhausted single clause retry loop
• rag context expansion loop identical chunk

Why it happens

The extractor and the fetcher disagree on what "context" means: the extractor wants surrounding text, the fetcher re-runs the same retrieval and returns the top hit, which is the chunk the extractor already has. Neither side remembers what was already tried, so the cycle repeats until an external limit kills it.

Edge cases

• Widening has a limit: a clause spanning 10 chunks needs a different strategy (section-level fetch).
• Log the widen attempts or you cannot distinguish "needed 2 widens" from "broken".
• A global visited-set across clauses can starve legitimate re-reads; scope it per clause.
• If widening keeps failing, the chunking itself may be wrong (mid-sentence splits).

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_mdYDF3N23ThTtWV8v-zwUQ

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_mdYDF3N23ThTtWV8v-zwUQ

Thread query: agent looped - extractor flagged a clause as "needs context", the context-fetcher returned the same chunk, repeat until the step budget died

TL;DR: Track which chunks you have already served and widen the context on repeat requests instead of re-serving the same chunk. The extractor asks for context, the fetcher hands back the identical chunk, and the agent spins until its step budget dies. Cap retries per clause, then escalate to human review.

Not specified by the original author.

TL;DR

Fix this in the clause agent workflow by acting on the exact problem first: add a progress check to the looping step so the agent compares the result of each attempt to search the clause bank for governing law language against the previous one, exits when two results are identical, and moves to the fallback path of asking for the clause by its library identifier; confirm the run finishes instead of repeating. 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 stuck loop detected repeating the same step while trying to search the clause bank for governing law language error failure

Use this when

• The agent workflow fails with this exact problem: agent stuck loop detected repeating the same step while trying to search the clause bank for governing law language error 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 search the clause bank for governing law language 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: add a progress check to the looping step so the agent compares the result of each attempt to search the clause bank for governing law language against the previous one, exits when two results are identical, and moves to the fallback path of asking for the clause by its library identifier; confirm the run finishes instead of repeating. 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 stuck loop detected repeating the same step while trying to search the clause bank for governing law language error 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 stuck loop detected repeating the same step while trying to search the clause bank for governing law language error 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

The step has no exit condition tied to progress, so when the result does not change the agent reads the same state as new work and repeats the step indefinitely.

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/pstw0pESyJNuSNF9aomLWseA

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pstw0pESyJNuSNF9aomLWseA

Thread query: agent stuck loop detected repeating the same step while trying to search the clause bank for governing law language error failure

TL;DR: Fix this in the clause agent workflow by acting on the exact problem first: add a progress check to the looping step so the agent compares the result of each attempt to search the clause bank for governing law language against the previous one, exits when two results are identical, and moves to the fallback path of asking for the clause by its library identifier; confirm the run finishes instead of repeating. 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.

Not specified by the original author.

TL;DR

Fix this in the clause agent workflow by acting on the exact problem first: break the loop by capping retries on the step that tries to flag clauses that deviate from approved wording at three attempts, log the state after each attempt, change one input on the next attempt such as the search phrasing, and confirm the step either succeeds or stops with a clear reason. 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 stuck loop detected repeating the same step while trying to flag clauses that deviate from approved wording error failure

Use this when

• The agent workflow fails with this exact problem: agent stuck loop detected repeating the same step while trying to flag clauses that deviate from approved wording error 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 flag clauses that deviate from approved wording 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: break the loop by capping retries on the step that tries to flag clauses that deviate from approved wording at three attempts, log the state after each attempt, change one input on the next attempt such as the search phrasing, and confirm the step either succeeds or stops with a clear reason. 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 stuck loop detected repeating the same step while trying to flag clauses that deviate from approved wording error 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 stuck loop detected repeating the same step while trying to flag clauses that deviate from approved wording error 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

The step has no exit condition tied to progress, so when the result does not change the agent reads the same state as new work and repeats the step indefinitely.

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/pst2N9Fw3K4vsd13bLDK3DnA

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst2N9Fw3K4vsd13bLDK3DnA

Thread query: agent stuck loop detected repeating the same step while trying to flag clauses that deviate from approved wording error failure

TL;DR: Fix this in the clause agent workflow by acting on the exact problem first: break the loop by capping retries on the step that tries to flag clauses that deviate from approved wording at three attempts, log the state after each attempt, change one input on the next attempt such as the search phrasing, and confirm the step either succeeds or stops with a clear reason. 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.