fix: default max_rounds to 0 (unlimited)#540
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The previous default of 16 rounds silently killed agent turns mid-task. The agent would hit the cap while still working, return stopReason=max_turn_requests, and the harness would treat it as a successful completion. From the user's perspective the agent just stopped responding with no error. Real-world tasks routinely exceed 16 tool calls — even basic code exploration burns 10+ rounds before the agent can act. The harness already enforces its own idle timeout (default 320s) and hard timeout (default 3600s), which are the appropriate safety valves. Set to 0 (unlimited) to match the harbor benchmark configuration and let the harness timeouts govern turn duration.
wesbillman
reviewed
May 11, 2026
| base_url, | ||
| anthropic_api_version: env_or("ANTHROPIC_API_VERSION", "2023-06-01"), | ||
| max_rounds: parse_env("SPROUT_AGENT_MAX_ROUNDS", 16)?, | ||
| max_rounds: parse_env("SPROUT_AGENT_MAX_ROUNDS", 0)?, |
wesbillman
approved these changes
May 11, 2026
This was referenced May 28, 2026
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Problem
SPROUT_AGENT_MAX_ROUNDSdefaults to 16. When the agent hits this cap mid-task, it returnsstopReason: "max_turn_requests"and the harness treats it as a successful completion. From the user's perspective, the agent silently stops responding — no error, no indication anything went wrong.Real-world tasks routinely exceed 16 tool calls. Even basic code exploration (reading files, searching, orienting) burns 10+ rounds before the agent can act on what it found.
Fix
Default
max_roundsto0(unlimited), matching the harbor benchmark configuration (--ae "SPROUT_AGENT_MAX_ROUNDS=0").The harness already enforces idle timeout (default 320s) and hard timeout (default 3600s), which are the appropriate safety valves for runaway agents — not a round counter.
Changes
config.rs: defaultSPROUT_AGENT_MAX_ROUNDSfrom16→0README.md: update docs to reflect new default