Loop Controller (Budgeted Termination)

The Problem It Solves

Agent loops can run forever. A loop controller provides:

• max_steps budget
• a single “stop when result exists” contract
• consistent trace events

flowchart TD
  S["step(i)"] --> R{"Result?"}
  R -->|yes| DONE["Return result"]
  R -->|no| NEXT["i++ (until max_steps)"] --> S

Repo Reference

• Implementation: src/agent_patterns_lab/runtime/runner.py
• Tests: tests/test_runner.py