agent loop detected: agent retrying failed dbt test in infinite loop error

TL;DR

Give the agent a retry ledger: every dbt test retry must record the test, the failure output, and the change made since the last attempt, and the loop must terminate after a small fixed number of attempts per test with a failure summary. An agent retrying a deterministic test failure without changing the model or the data is not debugging; it is waiting for a different result that cannot come.

agent loop detected: agent retrying failed dbt test in infinite loop error

Use this when

• The check or run fails with this symptom: the agent cycles endlessly on the same failed dbt test.
• You are working on an agent retrying a failed dbt test in an infinite loop and the failure repeats on the same data or configuration.
• You need the failing rows, rule, or stage isolated before changing thresholds or code.

Not for this skill when

• A retry that follows a genuine model or data fix, which is correct verification behaviour instead.
• The error text names a different tool, stage, or root cause. Match the verbatim error first and use that skill.

Steps

1. Extract the agent's attempt history for the test and verify the failure output is identical across attempts. Verify: identical attempts are documented
2. Add an attempt ledger keyed by test name and input state, recording the change made before each retry. Verify: the ledger exists and is written per attempt
3. Enforce a hard attempt cap per test, after which the agent writes a failure summary and stops that branch of work. Verify: the cap is configured and tested
4. Require a change token, such as a model file hash or a data reload marker, to differ before a retry is permitted. Verify: retries without a changed token are blocked
5. Replay the original failure and confirm the agent stops at the cap with a usable summary instead of looping. Verify: the replay terminates with the summary produced

Variant phrasings

agent retrying failed dbt test infinite loop

The verbatim dbt-loop phrasing.

dbt test retry ledger attempt cap agent

The ledger phrasing for recorded attempts and changes.

agent loop deterministic test failure stop rule

The stop-rule phrasing for deterministic failures.

Compatibility: Agent retry handling around dbt test failures in CI-style loops

Why it happens

dbt tests are deterministic for fixed data and models, so an unchanged retry has a certain outcome. Agents loop because their instructions reward completion and nothing in the loop represents attempts or state, the same structural gap behind most agent retry storms.

Edge cases / pitfalls

• Transient warehouse errors deserve retries with backoff, keyed on the error type, not the test result.
• The failure summary should include the compiled test SQL so a human can reproduce in one step.

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_CFaIZj6FSo6H02m91Ze0aw