01 / Run limits
When should an agent stop?
A failed run can still produce useful work.
What the teams report
Stripe limits Minions to two rounds of continuous integration (CI) checks. It then returns the branch to a person. More attempts cost time and compute. [1]
Dropbox uses a different limit for Deflaker, its tool to repair unstable tests. It carries notes and test logs between attempts. It stops after a successful fix or five attempts. [2]
“A turn counter is not a progress detector.”
DoorDash, on a repeated request that did not advance the turn counter. [3]
DoorDash added deadlines for each agent. A soft deadline requests verified findings. A hard deadline stops the agent. [3]
At the limit → Save the work and explain the failure.
Our observation
The limit needs a useful exit
An attempt limit and a time limit address different failures. Neither limit explains what the next person needs.
A useful exit can include the current work, failed checks, and a reason to stop. This is a design proposal, not a shared implementation.
The cases do not establish one correct retry count.
A question for your buildWhat will a person receive if the next attempt fails?
Sources
- Stripe: Minions, part 2CI checks and the return to a human operator.
- Dropbox: Introducing NovaDeflaker and its capped fix attempts.
- DoorDash: How we built an AI code reviewerRepeated requests and per-agent deadlines.