An agent loop needs an exit

Why it matters

A loop can keep working without getting closer to a useful result. Before choosing a framework or adding more agents, decide which choices genuinely require a model and which steps are already known. A clear fixed workflow can be the right baseline.

Read the evidence

Anthropic’s December 2024 engineering guide distinguishes predefined workflows from systems where the model directs its own process and tool use. It recommends starting simply and adding complexity when justified. This is a vendor’s engineering guidance, not proof that any particular agent architecture wins on your task.

How to use this resource

Sketch a proposed research task as states: question accepted, sources collected, gaps checked, draft prepared and review requested. Then add the paths that do not end in success.

• Define an observable completion condition for each state.
• Set explicit time, tool-call and retry budgets.
• Require an explanation when a repeated action will add new information.
• Handle missing evidence, unavailable tools and conflicting instructions as separate states.
• Specify what the handoff includes: current state, attempted actions, evidence and the decision needed.

Limits and evidence

The state sketch is a design exercise, not a working automation. No agent was run for this guide. A framework’s persistence feature does not by itself make external actions reversible or prevent repeated side effects.

Put it to work.

• Start with a simple baseline.
• Define success, failure and handoff.
• Set a bounded retry policy.
• Show evidence of progress before another loop.

Go to the source.

Original material, with its own scope and publication date. This note is an explanation, not a CooScope performance test.

1. Anthropic — Building effective agents (19 December 2024)Link / source review: 2026-10-04