AI Engineering Now #002: Your AI Agent Needs an Exit Condition — When Should an AI Agent Stop?

AI Engineering Now #002

11 November 2026

Your AI Agent Needs an Exit Condition

NOW

AI agents can execute multiple steps, call tools, and continue working toward a goal.

The OpenAI Agents SDK provides a max_turns setting to limit the number of agent turns during a run.

But limiting turns is only one part of controlling autonomous execution.

WHY IT MATTERS

An agent that keeps working is not necessarily making progress.

Without clear boundaries, an agent may repeat failed actions, consume unnecessary resources, or continue when human intervention is needed.

TRY THIS

Before deploying your next agent, define three boundaries:

1. Turn limit: How many agent turns are permitted?

2. Resource budget: How much time or money can the task consume?

3. Escalation rule: When must the agent stop and ask a human?

Test what happens when each boundary is reached.

ENGINEERING TAKEAWAY

An effective AI agent knows not only what to do, but when to stop.

SOURCE — OpenAI Agents SDK Documentation

https://openai.github.io/openai-agents-python/running_agents/

Technical note: The SDK documents max_turns. Time, cost, and escalation policies require additional application-level controls.

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