Tool-Call Loop

What is a Tool-Call Loop

A tool-call loop is a stuck pattern where an agent repeats the same failing tool call, or oscillates between two actions, without making real progress toward the goal and without recognizing on its own that it is stuck. A command fails, the agent tries the identical command again, it fails the same way, and the cycle continues.

It usually starts from a wrong assumption the agent never questions: the wrong file path, a misunderstood error message, a fix that addresses a symptom rather than the actual cause. Since the assumption itself does not change between attempts, neither does the outcome, no matter how many times the same call gets retried.

Breaking out of one rarely means trying harder at the same thing, it means stepping back and questioning the assumption behind the repeated action: reading the actual error more carefully, checking whether the target even exists, trying a genuinely different approach instead of a slight variation of the same failing one. A human or a hook that notices the repetition and interrupts it usually saves far more time than letting the loop run its course.