Agent Deadlock
ELI5 — The Vibe Check
Agent deadlock is when two or more AI agents wait on each other forever. Agent A waits for Agent B's response. Agent B waits for Agent A's. Neither moves. Classic deadlock, now in agentic form.
Real Talk
Agent deadlock is a multi-agent system failure where agents mutually block on each other's outputs, creating no-progress states. Analogous to OS deadlock but in LLM orchestration. Mitigations: timeout-based circuit breakers, centralized orchestrator patterns, and explicit communication topologies that prevent circular dependencies.
When You'll Hear This
"Our agent swarm deadlocked — two agents waiting on each other's approval." / "Add timeouts to prevent agent deadlock."
Related Terms
Agent Orchestra
An agent orchestra is a group of AI agents with a conductor — one lead agent that coordinates specialists.
Deadlock
A deadlock is when two things are each waiting for the other to go first, and neither ever does. Thread A holds Lock 1 and wants Lock 2.
Multi-Agent
Multi-agent means multiple AI agents working together, each handling a different task.