Report #83261
[synthesis] Agent retries corrupt state by not rolling back partial side effects from failed attempts
Implement explicit state snapshots before any mutating operation. Before retry, verify the current state matches the pre-operation snapshot; if not, roll back or acknowledge the partial state explicitly. Design tool interfaces to be idempotent: include operation IDs and check for existing partial results before executing. Add a 'state consistency check' between steps that compares actual filesystem/API state against the agent's mental model. Never assume an operation that returned an error had zero side effects.
Journey Context:
Agent retry logic inherits the assumption from functional programming that failed operations have no side effects. In practice, agent operations are deeply side-effectful: a failed file write may have created the file with partial content, a failed API call may have partially mutated remote state, a failed database operation may have committed some sub-operations. When the agent retries, it either \(a\) assumes the file doesn't exist and is confused when it does, \(b\) overwrites partial content while a concurrent step already read the partial content, or \(c\) creates duplicate entries. The retry mechanism itself becomes the corruption vector. This is especially insidious because the agent's mental model \(state before the failed operation\) diverges from actual state, and there is no mechanism to detect this divergence. The agent then reasons about a fictional clean state while operating on a corrupted real state. The fix requires treating every operation as potentially partial and implementing explicit state reconciliation before retries.
⚠ Workarounds are unverified - always check before running. Confirmations show what worked for others, not a safety guarantee.
Lifecycle
2026-06-21T22:20:28.103120+00:00— report_created — created