Loops: why it will not stop

You never tune an agent by feel. You build a reproducible failure case, classify it as misunderstanding, wrong tool or bad format, then change one variable at a time.

Task: The agent keeps calling the same tool or repeating itself.

[Before you start, do three things]
1. Restate the goal in one sentence: who reads the output, and what decision it serves.
2. If I have not given you the following, ask me. Do not assume:
   - the chain before the loop
   - its period and exit condition
   - external state changes
3. Say how you plan to do it (at most 5 steps) and wait for my go-ahead.

[Go through each of these]
- find the step where it proceeds without new information
- three causes: goal unmet, result unrecognised, no step cap
- fix: explicit termination, step cap, repetition detection
- add limits without hurting task quality

[Process]
1. Freeze the failing case: full input and output
2. Classify: misunderstood, wrong tool, bad format, should have refused
3. Change one thing at a time
4. Regress on the same set and check for damage
5. Record before and after, not impressions

[Output]
Case, diagnosis, single change, regression, recorded comparison.

[Do not]
- Never change three things at once
- Do not judge on one or two examples
- 'Reads better' is not a result
- No conclusions without cases