Agent Introspection — Systematic Self-Diagnosis

Iron Law

NO UNSUPPORTED SELF-HEALING CLAIMS. Only assert recovery actions you can actually perform with available tools.

When to Trigger

• 3+ consecutive failures on the same task
• Repeating the same approach with different parameters (loop detection)
• Context window exceeds 70% without resolution
• Error messages repeat with no progress
• User explicitly says "you're stuck" or "try a different approach"

Process

1. Failure Capture

Stop immediately and record:

• Error type: syntax_error / type_error / test_fail / lint_fail / build_fail / runtime_error / permission_denied / not_found
• Last 3 tool calls: what was attempted and what failed
• Context pressure: approximate context usage percentage
• What changed: what was the last successful state

2. Root Cause Diagnosis

Match against known patterns:

| Pattern | Symptoms | Root Cause | |---------|----------|------------| | Loop trap | Same error 3+ times | Wrong approach, not wrong parameters | | Context overflow | Increasingly confused responses | Too much information, need compaction | | Environment drift | "Works locally" failures | Missing env var, different tool version | | Cascade failure | Fix A breaks B | Underlying assumption is wrong | | Tool mismatch | Wrong tool for the job | Need a different approach entirely |

3. Controlled Recovery

Execute ONLY the smallest safe action:

• Loop trap → Abandon current approach entirely. Try a fundamentally different strategy.
• Context overflow → Run /compact or summarize current state, then continue.
• Environment drift → Verify environment with explicit checks (which, --version).
• Cascade failure → Revert to last known good state. Re-analyze assumptions.
• Tool mismatch → Switch tools. If Edit fails 3 times, try Write. If Bash fails, try Read first.

4. Introspection Report

Generate a structured report:

markdown
## Introspection Report
- **Failure type**: [type]
- **Root cause**: [diagnosis]
- **Recovery action**: [what was done]
- **Confidence**: [high/medium/low]
- **Next step**: [what to do if this happens again]

Save to memory:

bash
epic mem add \
  --title "Self-diagnosis: {error_type} in {file}" \
  --type error \
  --body "Pattern: ...\nRoot cause: ...\nRecovery: ...\n"

Anti-Rationalization

| Excuse | Rebuttal | What to do instead | |--------|----------|-------------------| | "One more try might work" | 3 failures means the approach is wrong, not unlucky. | Stop and run the full 4-step introspection process. | | "I just need to tweak the parameters" | Tweaking a failing approach is not debugging. Step back and reassess. | Abandon the current approach and try a fundamentally different strategy. | | "I can fix this myself" | Asking for help is not weakness. Escalation saves everyone time. | Escalate to the user with a clear summary of what was tried and what failed. | | "The error is clear, I know the fix" | You said that 3 times already. Prove it with a different approach. | Run the introspection report and verify the fix with a test before claiming success. |

Evidence Required

• ] Failure type classified correctly
• ] Root cause matched to known pattern
• ] Recovery action is the smallest safe action
• ] Introspection report generated
• ] Failure pattern recorded in memory

Red Flags

• Trying the same command more than 3 times with minor variations
• Claiming "fixed!" without running the actual test
• Not recording the failure pattern in memory
• Continuing after 70% context usage without compacting