finite-recursum

🛡 Finite Recursum

"The robot was checking its work checking its work checking its—"

The 5-family verifies its own work without being told. Instructions and hooks written to force verification on older models now stack on top of that and produce spirals: the model re-checks, finds nothing new, and the instruction layer demands it re-check again.

What to scan

• Every memory file the repo carries — CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md, nested, user-level if opted in
• Every hook that fires on Stop / session-end / post-tool events
• Every skill or agent definition containing review, verification, or completion procedures
• Output styles and system-prompt fragments

Anti-patterns to find

1. Verify-your-work incantations that have a loop partner. "Double-check your work", "verify before finishing", "always confirm correctness", "re-read your changes" — as standing prose rules where something re-raises the obligation: a Stop or session-end hook, a re-firing advisory, or a second copy of the rule elsewhere. That combination is loop fuel.

   Not a finding on its own. A rule naming a concrete, non-inferable artifact check — run npm test before claiming done, run terraform plan and paste the output — is load-bearing and stays. The model self-verifies its reasoning; it does not know your commands. In a repo with no Stop or advisory hooks this class has no instances: say so, rather than flagging the prose.

2. Re-firing advisories with no state fingerprint. A Stop/advisory hook that emits the same warning every time it runs, regardless of whether the underlying state changed. The model answers, stops, the hook fires again on identical state: wake→answer→stop→wake.

3. Unbounded review loops. A review→fix→re-review procedure with no round cap and no exit criterion besides "no findings". Reviewers on the 5-family will always find something; minor findings extend the loop forever.

4. Undischargeable obligations. A rule demanding a condition the agent cannot always satisfy ("all tests must pass before you stop" when the suite needs approval to run; "verify in the editor" when the agent has no editor). The obligation can't be discharged, so it re-surfaces every turn.

5. Staleness-free verification demands. "Verify X before claiming done" with no allowance for evidence already gathered this session — forcing re-verification of unchanged subjects per message instead of per change.

6. Advisory text that reads as blocking. A warning phrased like a wall ("BLOCKED", "not landable") on a condition that is actually advisory — agents stop doing legitimate work.