Context-compaction loop incident
Unnamed: developer using a paid coding agent · coding agent
- What happened
- A developer reported that, after repeated context compactions, a coding agent reread the same project files, repeated its plan and never completed the requested work. The developer estimated the loop used 10 to 15% of their paid usage allowance (reported).
- Impact
- The requested work was left unfinished and paid usage was consumed (reported).
- What would have caught it
- Alert when an agent repeatedly reads the same files without changing the work. Preserve a task checkpoint across compactions and stop the run when progress stalls.
- Sources
- Developer’s issue report (source date 2026-07-24)