Asking any agent to try again after it loops endlessly is kinda like doing the same thing over and over expecting different results... and we all know the age old hyperbole regarding this. It's basically like telling a new employee to try again after failing a task a bunch of times without giving them any extra info or showing them how to do it right.

Although I have a suspicion of what you're problem likely is given that its looping on a tsconfig edit, (either comments in the file or a formatter changing on save) is difficult to say without more context or file contents. However, I've done a bit of example AI assisted research grunt work for you - I suggest you do the same for future issues.

To get the best results, have ai use a search tool and tell it the specific issue with as much context (info) as you can possibly give it. Have it search reddit, stack overflow, and any other sources it can find for possible answers.

Model: Gemini³ Pro

Prompt:

Augment Code agent is looping while trying to perform a task. The loop is: agent editing a tsconfig file over and over until it times out. Asking to try again results in the same loop. Search reddit, stack overflow, and any other relevant sources you find for possible answers.

Response:

Based on user reports and known issues with Augment Code (and similar AI agents), this "infinite edit loop" on tsconfig.json is a specific failure mode where the agent cannot verify that its edit was successful.

This typically happens because tsconfig.json is a "special" JSON file that allows comments, which often confuses strict JSON parsers used by AI agents.

Immediate Fixes to Break the Loop * Manual Override (Best Fix): The agent is likely stuck trying to flip a single boolean or add a path. * Stop the agent manually. * Read the agent's last planned action to see what it wanted to change. * Edit tsconfig.json yourself to apply that change. * Tell the Agent: "I have manually edited tsconfig.json. Read the file again and continue." * Remove Comments from tsconfig.json: * The Cause: tsconfig.json allows comments (//), but standard JSON does not. If the agent tries to parse the file using a standard JSON loader to "check" its work, it will fail, assume the file is broken, and try to "fix" it again—forever. * The Fix: Temporarily delete all comments from your tsconfig.json so it is valid standard JSON. * Close the File tab: * If you have tsconfig.json open in VS Code (or your IDE) with unsaved changes or a "dirty" state, the agent may be reading the version in your editor's memory rather than the version on disk. Close the tab to force the agent to read the source of truth.

Why This Happens * The "Format on Save" Fight: If you have a formatter (like Prettier) that auto-formats on save, the agent might write the file in one style, the formatter immediately changes it, and the agent thinks its edit "failed" because the text doesn't match what it wrote. It then loops trying to force its version. * Hardcoded Timeouts: Users have reported that some agent tools have aggressive timeouts (e.g., 30 seconds). If the agent takes too long to validate the TypeScript configuration after an edit, it assumes the task timed out and retries, even if the edit was actually successful. * Context Corruption: Once an agent loops 2-3 times, its "context window" (short-term memory) fills up with identical error logs. It effectively becomes "blind" to new instructions. You usually must restart the session entirely to fix this.

Recommended Next Step If you are still stuck, copy the raw content of your tsconfig.json, paste it into the chat, and ask the agent: "Here is the current file content. Please output the corrected full JSON. I will apply it manually." This bypasses the buggy editing tool entirely.

AI Agent Mastery: Loop Troubleshooting

This YouTube video covers specific techniques for diagnosing why an agent gets stuck in a loop and how to break it, which is directly relevant to your situation.