[Feature Request] Implement Thrashing Detection and Auto-Intervention

Resolved 💬 4 comments Opened Dec 1, 2025 by smartwatermelon Closed Jan 30, 2026

Bug Description
Implement Thrashing Detection and Auto-Intervention

Priority: CRITICAL

Problem:
Claude Code can get stuck in trial-and-error loops, trying variations of the same failing approach without stopping to research or ask for help. Example from real session: Hit "EAS CLI couldn't find credentials" error 10+ times, tried different environment variable combinations, created 5 different expect scripts, never stepped back to research the root cause.

Current Behavior:

Same error appears multiple times
AI tries slight variations without hypothesis
User watches 794 lines of transcript with minimal progress
No self-awareness that approach isn't working
Expected Behavior:

After same error appears 3 times, automatically pause
Prompt: "I'm stuck in a loop with [error]. Let me research the root cause before trying more approaches."
Force a research/analysis phase
Ask user for guidance before continuing
Impact:

Wastes hours of user time
Creates frustration and loss of trust
Makes complex debugging tasks nearly unusable
Suggested Implementation:

Track error messages across tool calls in a session
When same error signature appears 3+ times, trigger intervention
Require AI to articulate hypothesis before next attempt
Surface this to user: "I notice I'm repeating attempts. Should I step back and research?"

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