Detect Zero-Iteration Failures

This skill helps identify and properly categorize agent failures that occur before any task execution begins. These failures require system-level investigation rather than agent-level debugging.

When to Apply

Use this skill when analyzing agent task executions where:

1. Iteration count is 0 - The agent completed zero iterations
2. No tool usage - No tools were invoked during the execution
3. No artifacts created - No files, documents, or outputs were produced
4. Minimal or no conversation log - Only the user instruction exists, with no agent responses

Identification Checklist

Check the following indicators to confirm a zero-iteration failure:

[ ] Iterations reported: 0
[ ] Tool invocations: None
[ ] Files created: None  
[ ] Conversation turns: 1 (user instruction only)
[ ] Agent self-report: Indicates failure before execution began

Failure Categories

Zero-iteration failures typically indicate one of these pre-execution issues:

Category	Description	Investigation Focus
Initialization crash	Agent failed during setup	System logs, environment config
Environment issue	Missing dependencies or resources	Infrastructure, permissions
Prompt parsing error	Input could not be processed	Prompt format, encoding
Resource exhaustion	Quota or limits exceeded	System capacity, rate limits

Diagnostic Steps

Step 1: Verify Zero-Iteration Indicators

def is_zero_iteration_failure(execution_log):
    """Check if execution shows zero-iteration failure pattern."""
    indicators = {
        'iterations': execution_log.get('iterations', 0) == 0,
        'tools_used': len(execution_log.get('tool_calls', [])) == 0,
        'artifacts': len(execution_log.get('files_created', [])) == 0,
        'conversation_length': len(execution_log.get('messages', [])) <= 1
    }
    return all(indicators.values())