agent hallucinated stakeholder map invented new VP contact not in any source system

TL;DR

Fix this in stakeholder mapping agent workflow by acting on the exact message first: build the stakeholder map only from contacts present in the CRM or another named source system, reject any contact name not found in those records, and verify a sample of mapped stakeholders against the CRM before the map is used for outreach. Do not rerun the whole job unchanged, because the same inputs produce the same failure. Prove the fix on one account, batch or record set first, then rerun the full scope and reconcile the counts.

agent hallucinated stakeholder map invented new VP contact not in any source system

Use this when

• The operation in stakeholder mapping agent workflow fails with this exact message or symptom: agent hallucinated stakeholder map invented new VP contact not in any source system.
• The same failure repeats on retry with unchanged inputs.
• Expansion scoring, alerting or outreach 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 error remains.
• The operation completes and you only disagree with its output quality. That is a quality review, not this failure.

Steps

1. Reproduce the failure with the smallest scope that still shows it in stakeholder mapping agent workflow, and copy the full message plus the account, signal or job involved into the run notes. Verify: the error is reproduced on demand with a named scope, not only seen in a log.
2. Apply the specific fix for this error: build the stakeholder map only from contacts present in the CRM or another named source system, reject any contact name not found in those records, and verify a sample of mapped stakeholders against the CRM before the map is used for outreach. Verify: the smallest failing scope now completes, or the named account, signal or job behaves as the fix predicts.
3. Check the neighbouring accounts, signals or jobs that share the same config, schema or source, 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 stakeholder mapping agent workflow 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, scores or status against the source in stakeholder mapping agent workflow 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 error, the fix applied and the evidence of success.

Why it happens

An agent filling a plausible org chart from role patterns invents executives, and constraining names to source records blocks every invented contact.

Variant phrasings

agent hallucinated stakeholder map invented new VP contact not in any source system

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

How to fix - agent hallucinated stakeholder map invented new VP contact not in any source system

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

stakeholder mapping agent workflow 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 sample scope but the full rerun still fails, a second account or record with the same fault is present; widen the scope in stages until the next failing item is found.
• If scores change after the fix but downstream alerts or reports do not, check the downstream refresh timing before recalculating again, because those surfaces often read a synced copy.
• If the source information itself is missing for the affected accounts, record that as a source gap rather than scoring the accounts as zero.

Compatibility: stakeholder mapping agent workflow at current versions, plus the platform API or console 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/pst_Z7EV0a207doqxcjOMVOf8w