## TL;DR
Fix this in the agent at the compliance evidence approval step by doing this first: check the approval queue for the compliance evidence item, confirm a named approver holds it, add an escalation after a set wait, and let the agent poll with backoff and a hard stop instead of waiting forever. Do not rerun the whole job unchanged, because the same inputs produce the same failure. Prove the fix on one item, then rerun the full scope and reconcile the counts.

```text
agent stuck on the approval step
```

## Use this when
- The operation fails with this exact problem: agent stuck on the approval step.
- The same failure repeats on retry with unchanged inputs.
- An audit, review, or request is blocked until this item completes.

## Not for this skill when
- The message is a platform outage notice or a general sign-in failure. Resolve that first, then return here if this problem remains.
- The operation completes and you only disagree with its output. That is a quality review, not this failure.

## Steps
1. Reproduce the failure with the smallest scope that still shows it in the agent at the compliance evidence approval step, and copy the full message plus the item, account, or request involved into the run notes. Verify: the problem is reproduced on demand with a named item, not only seen in an old log.
2. Apply the specific fix for this problem: check the approval queue for the compliance evidence item, confirm a named approver holds it, add an escalation after a set wait, and let the agent poll with backoff and a hard stop instead of waiting forever. Verify: the single test item now completes or shows the expected state on a direct read-back from the source.
3. Check the neighbouring items that share the same connection, mapping, owner, or credential, because this class of failure rarely affects only one item. Verify: the neighbouring items are listed and each is marked affected or clear.
4. Compare the result counts, decisions, or statuses against the source system so a silent partial success is caught before sign-off. Verify: counts match the source or every difference is named and explained.
5. Rerun the original operation 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.
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 problem, the fix applied, and the evidence of success.

## Why it happens
The workflow waits on a human step with no owner alert and no timeout, so the agent sits in a wait state that looks like a loop while the approval sits unseen.

## Variant phrasings

### agent stuck on compliance evidence approval step error timeout failure loop
The verbatim form searchers paste from the console or ticket. Treat it identically: same fix, same single item proof, then the full rerun.

### How to fix this failure in practice
The how-to phrasing for the same failure. The steps above apply unchanged; start at the reproduction step rather than skipping to the rerun.

### Troubleshooting the symptom-first form
The 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.

Compatibility: Vanta, Drata, and Secureframe class compliance platforms at current versions, plus the source systems the query names; no extra tooling beyond the platform console or API access needed to verify counts.

## Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_uRj2jMenfiCn1HR1feWjgg