Agent Pattern Verification

Purpose

Verify AI agent code for common anti-patterns that can cause infinite loops, runaway retries, tool mismatches, and context overflow. No telemetry or network calls of its own.

When to Use

Trigger this skill when the user asks to:

• "verify agent patterns"
• "check agent loops"
• "verify tools"
• "check retry limits"
• "verify agent safety"

Note: For full verification including security, quality, and language-specific checks, tell the user to say "verify agent".

Process

Step 1: Detect Agent Framework

Identify the agent framework by checking imports in Python/TypeScript files:

Also check for framework config files: langgraph.json, crew.yaml.

Step 2: Locate Agent Files

Find files to analyze:

Priority files:

• graph.py, graph.ts - Agent workflow definitions
• tools.py, tools.ts, tools/*.py, tools/*.ts - Tool implementations
• state.py, state.ts - State schemas
• prompts.py, prompts/*.md, system.md - Prompt templates
• agent.py, agent.ts - Main agent logic

Directories to check:

• src/agent/, agent/, src/, project root
• lib/, app/, packages/

Exclude from analysis:

• skills/ directory — these are skill definitions, not agent system prompts

Step 3: Run Pattern Checks

Check Tiers

• [PATTERN] — Mechanical check. Apply exactly as written.
• [HEURISTIC] — Judgment required. Mark findings clearly.

Tag every finding with [P] for pattern or [H] for heuristic.

3.1 [PATTERN] Loop Safety

Apply mechanically. Do not pass a loop because it "looks like it might terminate."

[HEURISTIC] Fallback: Unrecognized Loop Patterns

After applying the pattern table, also scan for:

• Loops where termination depends entirely on external/runtime state with no timeout
• Generator functions that yield indefinitely without documented exit
• Event/polling loops without timeout parameters
• Recursive call chains across multiple functions without depth tracking

Flag as ⚠️ Warning: "Potential unbounded loop not matching known patterns — verify termination condition manually"

3.2 [PATTERN] Retry Limit Enforcement

Apply mechanically. If required parameter is absent, flag as ❌ Issue.

Python — Decorator-based:

Python — HTTP client retry:

Python — AWS SDK (boto3):

Note: boto3 without explicit retry config uses SDK defaults (3 attempts) — do not flag absence.

JavaScript/TypeScript:

Custom retry loops (all languages):

[HEURISTIC] Fallback: Unrecognized Retry Patterns

After applying pattern tables, scan for:

• Functions/decorators with "retry" in name not in tables above
• Imported modules with "retry" in package name (e.g. stamina, aiohttp_retry)
• Loops with sleep + exception handling + re-invocation without visible counter
• Config keys like max_retries, retry_count, attempts

Flag as ⚠️ Warning: "Potential retry pattern not matching known libraries — verify retry bounds manually"

3.3 [PATTERN] Tool Registry Consistency

Step 1: Collect defined tools

Scan tool definition files. A name found by any pattern counts as registered.

Python — decorator patterns:

Python — dict/list patterns:

TypeScript/JavaScript:

Step 2: Collect tool references from prompts

Scan .md, .txt, prompts.py for backtick-quoted identifiers naming capabilities.

Step 3: Cross-reference

[HEURISTIC] Tools never bound to LLM

Find where tools are defined and where LLM is invoked. If tools exist but are never connected to the LLM call, flag as ❌ Issue: "Tools defined but never connected to LLM invocation"

[HEURISTIC] Fallback: Unrecognized Tool Definitions

Scan for tool-like structures:

• Dicts with both "description" and "parameters" keys
• Functions with structured docstrings (name, params, return)
• Variables named tools, tool_list, available_tools, functions
• Classes with run(), execute(), or __call__() methods

Include in count and note: "Tool detected via heuristic — verify this is an intended agent tool."

3.4 [PATTERN] Context Size Awareness

Formula: token_estimate = len(file_content_chars) / 4

Exclude: skills/ directories (loaded on demand, not embedded)

[HEURISTIC] Fallback: Borderline and Non-Standard

• Estimates within 20% of threshold → flag with tokenizer recommendation
• Dynamic prompts (f-strings, .format()) → flag if template alone is large
• Multiple concatenated prompts → estimate combined size
• Prompts with includes → note effective size may be larger

3.5 [HEURISTIC] Explicit Tool Listing

Check system prompts for:

• Headers like "Available Tools", "You have access to"
• Tool capability descriptions

Flag if tools are defined but not documented in system prompt.

3.6 [PATTERN] LangGraph Graph Cycle Analysis

(Only when LangGraph is detected)

Detection steps:

a. Find graph file (graph.py, graph.ts, or file with StateGraph/MessageGraph)

b. Build edge map:

• workflow.add_edge(source, dest) — unconditional edge
• workflow.add_conditional_edges(source, fn, mapping) — extract destinations from mapping

c. Identify cycles: nodes reachable from themselves

d. For each cycle, check if END (or "__end__") is reachable via conditional edge

Example — infinite cycle (❌ Issue):

workflow.add_edge("agent", "tools")
workflow.add_edge("tools", "agent")  # no path to END

Example — cycle with exit (✅ Pass):

workflow.add_conditional_edges("agent", should_continue, {
    "continue": "tools",
    "end": END
})
workflow.add_edge("tools", "agent")

[HEURISTIC] Fallback: Non-LangGraph Graphs

Scan for graph-like control flow:

• State machines with transition tables
• Custom routing with implicit cycles
• LangGraph.js (camelCase methods)
• CrewAI/AutoGen agent handoffs
• Adjacency lists without termination path

Flag as ⚠️ Warning: "Potential cyclic control flow — verify termination condition exists"

Step 4: Generate Report

# Agent Pattern Verification Report

**Project:** [name or path]
**Date:** [current date]
**Framework detected:** [LangGraph | CrewAI | AutoGen | LangChain | Custom | None]
**Files analyzed:** [count]

## Summary

✅ X checks passed | ⚠️ Y warnings | ❌ Z issues

## Loop Safety

- [x] All loops have termination conditions
- [ ] ⚠️ Potential unbounded loop at `[file:line]`

## Retry Limits

- [x] All retry mechanisms have explicit limits
- [ ] ❌ Missing retry limit at `[file:line]`

## Tool Consistency

- [x] Tool registry found: X tools defined
- [ ] ❌ Y hallucinated tool references
- [ ] ⚠️ Z undocumented tools

## Context Size

- [x] System prompt within limits (~X tokens)
- [ ] ⚠️ System prompt exceeds recommended size

## Findings

> `[P]` = pattern-matched · `[H]` = heuristic

### ✅ Passing
- `[P]` [Check]: [confirmation]

### ⚠️ Warnings
- `[P|H]` [Check]: [description]
  - **Location:** [file:line]
  - **Suggestion:** [how to fix]

### ❌ Issues
- `[P|H]` [Check]: [description]
  - **Location:** [file:line]
  - **Rule:** [which rule violated]
  - **Fix:** [specific remediation]

## Recommendations

1. [Priority recommendation]
2. [Additional improvements]

For full verification including security, quality, and language-specific checks, say "verify agent".