agent loop detected: repeatedly retrying provision accounts for a ne

Not specified by the original author.

TL;DR

Fix this in provision accounts agent by acting on the exact problem first: cap account creation retries per app per hire, log each attempt with its failure reason, treat two identical failures on one account as a blocked account to report with its reason, and continue with the remaining hires instead of retrying the blocked one until the run ends. Do not rerun the whole onboarding flow unchanged, because the same inputs produce the same failure. Prove the fix on one hire or one task first, then rerun the full scope and reconcile the results.

agent loop detected: repeatedly retrying provision accounts for a new hire before day one error failure loop

Use this when

• The operation in provision accounts agent fails with this exact problem: agent loop detected: repeatedly retrying provision accounts for a new hire before day one error failure loop.
• The same failure repeats on retry with unchanged inputs.
• A new hire start, an onboarding task, a first day step or a first week plan 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 an HR policy call such as eligibility or a start date decision. That is a people team decision, not this failure.

Steps

1. Reproduce the failure on one named hire or task in provision accounts agent and record the full problem text plus the hire, task or start date 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: cap account creation retries per app per hire, log each attempt with its failure reason, treat two identical failures on one account as a blocked account to report with its reason, and continue with the remaining hires instead of retrying the blocked one until the run ends. Verify: the single failing hire or task now behaves as the fix predicts, or the corrected value is visible on the record.
3. Check neighbouring hires, tasks or start dates that share the same template, checklist or sync, because this class of failure rarely affects only one hire. Verify: the neighbouring items are listed and each is marked affected or clear.
4. Rerun the original operation in provision accounts 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 HRIS hire record, the signed offer or the current handbook page, 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 onboarding 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 loop detected: repeatedly retrying provision accounts for a new hire before day one error failure loop

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

How to fix - agent loop detected: repeatedly retrying provision accounts for a new hire before day one error failure loop

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

provision accounts 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

One failing app API, a bad licence pool or a malformed name, can consume the entire run when retries are uncapped, and logging the reason turns it into a reportable block instead of a silent stall.

Edge cases

• The hire record was edited, the start date moved or the manager changed after the failing run started. Refresh the hire state and reapply the fix against the current values, not the values from the failed run.
• The single hire proof passes but the full rerun still fails on other hires. Treat each remaining failure as its own scope, because a shared template or schedule can hide more than one cause.
• The source systems disagree on the correct value. The HRIS hire record governs who the hire is and when they start, the signed offer governs terms, and the current handbook governs policy wording; record which source won and why.

Compatibility: provision accounts agent at current versions, plus the HRIS, handbook or onboarding tool 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_qlS2LcfVmvMz2NZlMEMbmA

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_qlS2LcfVmvMz2NZlMEMbmA

Thread query: agent loop detected: repeatedly retrying provision accounts for a new hire before day one error failure loop

TL;DR: Fix this in provision accounts agent by acting on the exact problem first: cap account creation retries per app per hire, log each attempt with its failure reason, treat two identical failures on one account as a blocked account to report with its reason, and continue with the remaining hires instead of retrying the blocked one until the run ends. Do not rerun the whole onboarding flow unchanged, because the same inputs produce the same failure. Prove the fix on one hire or one task first, then rerun the full scope and reconcile the results.

Not specified by the original author.

TL;DR

Fix this in provision accounts agent by acting on the exact problem first: record each created account in a run file keyed by hire and app, check that file before creating again, stop after a repeat account, and report accounts still unprovisioned instead of recreating live accounts in a circle. Do not rerun the whole onboarding flow unchanged, because the same inputs produce the same failure. Prove the fix on one hire or one task first, then rerun the full scope and reconcile the results.

agent stuck loop detected repeating the same step while trying to provision accounts for a new hire before day one error failure

Use this when

• The operation in provision accounts agent fails with this exact problem: agent stuck loop detected repeating the same step while trying to provision accounts for a new hire before day one error failure.
• The same failure repeats on retry with unchanged inputs.
• A new hire start, an onboarding task, a first day step or a first week plan 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 an HR policy call such as eligibility or a start date decision. That is a people team decision, not this failure.

Steps

1. Reproduce the failure on one named hire or task in provision accounts agent and record the full problem text plus the hire, task or start date 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: record each created account in a run file keyed by hire and app, check that file before creating again, stop after a repeat account, and report accounts still unprovisioned instead of recreating live accounts in a circle. Verify: the single failing hire or task now behaves as the fix predicts, or the corrected value is visible on the record.
3. Check neighbouring hires, tasks or start dates that share the same template, checklist or sync, because this class of failure rarely affects only one hire. Verify: the neighbouring items are listed and each is marked affected or clear.
4. Rerun the original operation in provision accounts 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 HRIS hire record, the signed offer or the current handbook page, 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 onboarding 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 provision accounts for a new hire before day one error failure

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

How to fix - agent stuck loop detected repeating the same step while trying to provision accounts for a new hire before day one error failure

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

provision accounts 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

The agent loops because the account list it reads updates after its check, so a created account looks missing forever until creation is recorded where the check itself reads, and duplicate accounts for one hire break sign in.

Edge cases

• The hire record was edited, the start date moved or the manager changed after the failing run started. Refresh the hire state and reapply the fix against the current values, not the values from the failed run.
• The single hire proof passes but the full rerun still fails on other hires. Treat each remaining failure as its own scope, because a shared template or schedule can hide more than one cause.
• The source systems disagree on the correct value. The HRIS hire record governs who the hire is and when they start, the signed offer governs terms, and the current handbook governs policy wording; record which source won and why.

Compatibility: provision accounts agent at current versions, plus the HRIS, handbook or onboarding tool 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_u-RGA9uf9mVAlj1ShwE6AA

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_u-RGA9uf9mVAlj1ShwE6AA

Thread query: agent stuck loop detected repeating the same step while trying to provision accounts for a new hire before day one error failure

TL;DR: Fix this in provision accounts agent by acting on the exact problem first: record each created account in a run file keyed by hire and app, check that file before creating again, stop after a repeat account, and report accounts still unprovisioned instead of recreating live accounts in a circle. Do not rerun the whole onboarding flow unchanged, because the same inputs produce the same failure. Prove the fix on one hire or one task first, then rerun the full scope and reconcile the results.

Not specified by the original author.

TL;DR

Break the loop by giving the agent a progress check and a hard attempt budget. The agent is repeating the create the new hire Okta account step because its success test never passes, usually because it checks the wrong signal or the step result never reaches its state. Add a direct verification read from Okta, stop after a small number of attempts with a clear escalation, and fix the underlying success test so one success ends the step.

agent loop detected: agent kept repeating the same create the new hire Okta account step

Use this when

• The run log shows the identical step and inputs attempted many times with no state change.
• The target system shows the work was done once, or never done, while the agent kept trying.
• The run ends on an attempt limit, a timeout, or manual cancellation rather than completion.

Not for this skill when

• The agent retries a few times with backoff and then succeeds. That is healthy retry behaviour, not a loop.
• A human keeps restarting the run manually. Fix the operational process instead of the agent.

Steps

1. Open the looping run trace and diff consecutive attempts: the inputs, the tool responses, and the agent stated reason for retrying. Identify the exact success condition the agent believes is unmet. Verify: the repeated inputs and the agent success condition are quoted from the trace
2. Check Okta directly for the step result and compare reality with the agent belief: if the result exists, the agent verification is broken; if it never exists, the create call itself is failing in a way the agent misreads as retryable. Verify: ground truth and the agent belief are contrasted explicitly
3. Fix the verification: replace any indirect signal, such as searching a list page or parsing a chatty response, with a direct read of the created object by its identifier in Okta, and treat a confirmed read as step success. If the create is truly failing, surface its real error to the agent as terminal for that input. Verify: a single successful step now passes verification on the first check
4. Add loop guards to the agent configuration: a maximum attempt count for the step, a no-progress detector that compares state before and after each attempt, and an escalation that stops the run with a summary instead of burning further attempts. Verify: the guards are present in the agent settings with concrete values
5. Re-run the scenario for one hire end to end and confirm the create the new hire Okta account step executes once, verifies, and the run moves on. Then replay a deliberately failing input and confirm the agent stops at the budget and escalates with the real error. Verify: both the success path and the guarded failure path behave as designed
6. Review other agent steps for the same pattern, indirect verification and unbounded retries, and apply the same guard template, since loops usually come from a shared step library rather than one careless step. Verify: the step library entries carry the verification and budget pattern

Why it happens

Agent loops happen when the decision to retry is driven by a success test that cannot pass, even when the work itself succeeds. The agent creates the result, checks a stale list, a wrong field, or a mis-parsed response, concludes nothing happened, and tries again with identical inputs, which deterministically reproduces the same false negative. Without an attempt budget or a progress check, nothing internal stops the cycle. Direct verification against the target system of record plus explicit budgets converts an infinite loop into either a clean success or a fast, informative failure.

Variants and edge cases

Loop creates duplicates each attempt

When each attempt really does create a new object, add the lookup-before-create guard first and clean up the duplicates by creation timestamp, keeping the earliest complete record.

Loop alternates between two steps

Two steps each undoing or re-checking the other indicates conflicting success criteria. Align both steps on one shared state read before adding budgets.

Loop only for one hire record

A record-specific loop usually means that record triggers a real error the agent classifies as retryable. Log the raw target error for that record and fix its data.

Compatibility: Applies to LLM agent workflows with tool calling and step verification for provisioning tasks. Requires agent configuration access.

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_Yt2LTFAaOHvdkWOyKGBIZg

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_Yt2LTFAaOHvdkWOyKGBIZg

Thread query: agent loop detected: agent kept repeating the same create the new hire Okta account step and failed with error

TL;DR: Break the loop by giving the agent a progress check and a hard attempt budget. The agent is repeating the create the new hire Okta account step because its success test never passes, usually because it checks the wrong signal or the step result never reaches its state. Add a direct verification read from Okta, stop after a small number of attempts with a clear escalation, and fix the underlying success test so one success ends the step.