agent loop detected rewriting the same compliance answer and failed to finish

agent loop detected rewriting the same compliance answer and failed to finish: how to fix it

An agent stuck rewriting the same compliance answer is looping because its completion check never fires. Add a similarity check against the previous draft and a max-rewrite cap, then escalate to a human when the cap hits. Loops end when the agent can recognize its own repetition.

agent loop detected rewriting the same compliance answer and failed to finish

When to use this skill

• An agent rewrites the same answer repeatedly
• Runs burn tokens with no progress on one answer

When not to use this skill

• The agent writes different bad answers each time (a quality issue, not a loop)
• The loop is on tool calls rather than drafting (a different guard)

Tool compatibility

Agent drafting loops with LLM rewrite steps. Related area: agent frameworks and agent runtime tooling. Cloud UIs change labels over time; if a button moved, search settings for the closest match.

Before you start

• Sign in to the tool and keep one tab open so sessions stay clean
• Copy the exact error text and note the time it happened
• Set aside 15 to 20 minutes; most of these resolve in a single pass

Quick diagnosis

Make sure this is the right skill before you invest the 15 minutes.

• If you are dealing with an agent rewrites the same answer repeatedly, start at step 1 below.
• If instead the agent writes different bad answers each time (a quality issue, not a loop), stop here; you need a different skill.
• If neither quite matches, compare your screen against the verbatim error block at the top; that block is exactly what this skill covers.

Fix it in steps

1. Add a similarity guard

Before each rewrite, compare the new draft to the previous one and stop if they are nearly identical.

Expected: the agent detects it is going in circles.

2. Cap the rewrite count

Set a hard limit like three rewrites per answer.

Expected: the agent stops instead of looping forever.

3. Escalate on cap hit

When the cap triggers, flag the answer for human review with both drafts attached.

Expected: a human breaks the tie instead of the agent spinning.

4. Tighten the completion criteria

Make the done condition concrete, like all required points covered, instead of a vague quality bar.

Expected: the agent finishes instead of polishing endlessly.

Confirm each step worked

Run through this checklist before moving on. If a check fails, redo that step instead of pushing ahead.

• Step 1 (add a similarity guard): Expected: the agent detects it is going in circles.
• Step 2 (cap the rewrite count): Expected: the agent stops instead of looping forever.
• Step 3 (escalate on cap hit): Expected: a human breaks the tie instead of the agent spinning.
• Step 4 (tighten the completion criteria): Expected: the agent finishes instead of polishing endlessly.

Quick recap

1. Add a similarity guard
2. Cap the rewrite count
3. Escalate on cap hit
4. Tighten the completion criteria

Still stuck?

Gather three things: the exact error text, the time it happened, and what changed just before it broke. Check the vendor status page for an active incident. Then open a support ticket with those three things; it cuts the back-and-forth in half. For agent runs, attach the last 50 lines of the agent log too, since the loop or timeout signature in the log usually names the cause.

Variant phrasings

agent rewriting same answer loop

Similarity guard plus rewrite cap. If this matches what you saw, the steps above apply as written.

compliance answer rewrite loop

Vague done criteria cause endless polishing. If this matches what you saw, the steps above apply as written.

Why it happens

Rewrite loops happen when the agent judges its own output against a fuzzy standard and always finds it wanting. Without a similarity check or a cap, each pass looks like progress to the agent while changing almost nothing.

Edge cases

• Set the similarity threshold loose enough to allow real improvements
• Log every rewrite so you can see the loop forming
• Human escalation should include the draft history, not just the last version

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pstN8m8woLddLR8rVSrvUTkA