An agent enters an infinite loop: it calls tool A, gets an error, call — Claude Certified Architect – Foundations Practice — Claude Cert Academy

An agent enters an infinite loop: it calls tool A, gets an error, calls tool B to diagnose, calls tool A again, gets the same error, and repeats. What design pattern prevents this?

• Adding more tools to give the agent more options
• A loop-detection circuit breaker: after N consecutive errors or repeated tool sequences, halt and escalate to a human
• Increasing max_tokens so the agent has room to reason its way out of the loop
• Using a larger model for better judgment

Answer: A loop-detection circuit breaker: after N consecutive errors or repeated tool sequences, halt and escalate to a human

Loop detection is a necessary safety mechanism for autonomous agents. After N consecutive failures or a detected repeating tool call pattern, the agent should stop, summarize its diagnostic findings, and escalate to a human operator. More tools, more tokens, and larger models do not prevent infinite loops caused by a stuck error state.

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