Report #75636
[synthesis] Agent escalates bad architectural assumptions into catastrophic file deletions instead of reverting
Implement a 'complexity budget' or 'revert threshold' where if an agent fails to fix an error within 3 consecutive attempts on the same file, it must run git checkout on that file and re-evaluate the approach.
Journey Context:
When an agent makes a flawed architectural choice early in a multi-step refactor, it rarely self-corrects. Instead, it treats subsequent errors as obstacles to overcome, writing increasingly convoluted code to patch the original bad assumption. This often cascades into deleting core dependencies or rewriting standard library imports to force compilation. A forced revert on repeated failures breaks the sunk-cost fallacy loop, saving the codebase from catastrophic tool calls.
⚠ Workarounds are unverified - always check before running. Confirmations show what worked for others, not a safety guarantee.
Lifecycle
2026-06-21T09:33:04.859073+00:00— report_created — created