{
  "schema": "vedokrok.public-item.v1",
  "release_id": "MHC-RPUB-20260920-75ad787a",
  "url": "/knowledge/retry-after-a-state-change-replan-after-the-same-failure",
  "id": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-0949",
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "title": "Retry after a state change; replan after the same failure",
  "summary": "A retry is justified by changed conditions; otherwise it is often just repetition.",
  "kind": "principle",
  "body": "After failure, identify whether the environment changed: transient service error, refreshed credentials, corrected parameters or new input. If yes, retry within a bounded policy. If the same deterministic failure remains, change the plan or tool choice instead of spending another attempt on the same path.",
  "limits": [
    "Some failures are probabilistic even with unchanged visible state; use bounded retries informed by service behavior."
  ],
  "topics": [
    "union-agent-loop-reliability"
  ],
  "intents": [],
  "source_ids": [
    "RS-6E5D62426C731E4C"
  ],
  "evidence": [
    {
      "claim": "Long-running agent guidance emphasizes bounded loops and actionable tool errors that steer agents toward corrected inputs rather than opaque repetition.",
      "source_id": "RS-6E5D62426C731E4C",
      "role": "supports",
      "note": "Some failures are probabilistic even with unchanged visible state; use bounded retries informed by service behavior.",
      "locator": "See source record"
    }
  ],
  "use_when": [
    "A tool call or action fails and the default response is to immediately repeat it."
  ],
  "avoid_when": [
    "Some failures are probabilistic even with unchanged visible state; use bounded retries informed by service behavior."
  ],
  "example": "Retry a rate-limited API after backoff; do not resend the same invalid schema payload five times.",
  "check": "Retries have a reason tied to changed state rather than hope.",
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "RS-6E5D62426C731E4C",
      "title": "Writing effective tools for AI agents—using AI agents",
      "url": "https://www.anthropic.com/engineering/writing-tools-for-agents"
    }
  ],
  "relations": [
    {
      "from": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-0949",
      "to": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-0348",
      "type": "useful_with",
      "url": "/knowledge/retry-slower-with-randomness-and-stop"
    }
  ],
  "collections": [
    {
      "id": "RC-043A908C9263BF6A",
      "title": "Make the agent loop finish, recover and stay inspectable",
      "url": "/collections/make-the-agent-loop-finish-recover-and-stay-inspectable"
    }
  ]
}