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How to Fix AI Coding Agents That Make Repeated or Conflicting Changes

Stop repeated or conflicting AI coding-agent edits with a disciplined workflow: inspect the real diff, identify the failed assumption, apply the smallest correction, recover with checkpoints or Git, then test before integration.
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If an AI coding agent keeps making the same edit, undoing an earlier fix, or changing files you did not ask it to touch, stop asking it to “try again.” First stop the run, inspect the complete diff, and identify the assumption or context that is driving the wrong action. Then make one narrowly worded correction, restore a known-good state if needed, and run tests before integrating anything.

This recovery sequence works across agent products, but controls such as steering an active run, editing a request, checkpoints, and context compaction are product-specific. The interface names below describe documented workflows in Visual Studio Code and Codex-style sessions; other agents may expose equivalent controls under different names or not support them at all.

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Why an AI coding agent repeats or conflicts with its own changes

A repeated change is usually a symptom, not a diagnosis. The agent may be following a stale instruction, acting on an error that was never resolved, misreading the current workspace, or receiving contradictory requirements from earlier messages and tool output. An agent can also modify files through terminal commands, scripts, editing tools, or MCP tools, so the change you see in the workspace may not correspond to an editor’s pending-edit indicator.

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Context is broader than your latest prompt. It can include the conversation, attached files, repository state, prior decisions, references, and tool results. Visual Studio Code describes these inputs as the context an agent uses to plan and act (context documentation). When that context contains an unresolved decision or an old requirement, a vague retry often reproduces the same mistake.

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Use the symptom to select a recovery path rather than applying a universal reset:

What you see Best first response
The agent appears idle or blocked Look for a pending question, approval request, or terminal command that is still running.
It is still working, but the approach is safely wrong Send a focused steering correction while the run is active.
It finished useful work with one identifiable mismatch Send a follow-up that names the mismatch and the expected result.
An ambiguous request produced the wrong implementation Edit the original request if the product supports it, and review what that edit rolls back.
Later edits are unwanted Restore a checkpoint when available, then inspect the restored diff and Git state.
The same failed action repeats Stop and diagnose the failed assumption or environment before trying a different action.
Earlier decisions conflict with current requirements Restate the authoritative requirement and preserve only the relevant state in a compact summary or fresh session.

1. Stop the loop and inspect the real workspace

Determine what state the run is in

Before changing your prompt, establish whether the agent is still executing, waiting for your answer, waiting for approval, or blocked on a terminal command. A run that looks frozen may simply be waiting for permission. Approving a command without understanding it can create more changes; cancelling a useful command can leave a partial state. Check the run’s activity panel, question queue, approval prompt, and terminal output.

Review every changed path

Open the changed-file list and a complete diff. Do not rely only on decorations in the text editor. Review files changed by shell commands, formatters, generated-code scripts, or external tools as well as direct editor edits. Visual Studio Code’s guidance on reviewing and reverting agent changes explains that the diff is the place to verify what the agent actually changed (review and revert documentation).

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  • Record the last known-good commit or checkpoint.
  • Note files that changed outside the requested scope.
  • Separate content changes from formatting, generated output, lockfiles, and configuration edits.
  • Capture the exact error, command, and exit status that preceded the repeated action.

Do not integrate, commit, or open a pull request while you are still determining which changes belong to the failed attempt.

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2. Name the failure before retrying

Compare three things: the requested outcome, the observed diff, and the error or runtime behavior. Write a one-sentence diagnosis such as “The agent keeps replacing the adapter because the test command still reports the old interface,” or “The generated file is being rewritten by a post-build script, not by the editor.” This sentence forces you to identify an assumption instead of treating repetition as a mysterious personality trait.

Common failed assumptions

  • Wrong source of truth: the agent edits a generated file while a schema or source template recreates it.
  • Stale interface: a test, type definition, or API contract still requires the earlier behavior.
  • Unseen environment state: a running process, cache, database migration, or uncommitted file changes the result of each attempt.
  • Scope ambiguity: “fix the error” permits a broad refactor when you intended a one-line correction.
  • Conflicting instructions: an earlier requirement remains in context even though your latest message implies the opposite.

If the same command failed for the same reason, repeating it unchanged supplies no new evidence. Change the hypothesis, the environment, or the requested action first.

3. Make the smallest correction that can work

A useful correction states the mismatch, the boundary, and the acceptance check. Replace “try again” with language such as: “The diff shows changes in src/parser.ts and generated files, but only the parser implementation should change. Keep the existing public signature, remove the generated-file edits, and run the parser tests.”

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When the agent is still running

Use the product’s steering or interruption control to deliver the correction while the current direction is still safe to change. Keep it short enough that the agent can apply it without introducing a second design. Specify which current edits to preserve, which to stop, and what evidence will show success.

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When the run has finished

Send a follow-up that points to the exact mismatch in the completed diff. Identify the intended file or symbol, the behavior that must remain unchanged, and the test or command to run. A follow-up is safer than a broad new request because it gives the agent a bounded repair target.

When the original request was ambiguous

If the interface allows request editing, revise the original instruction instead of layering another contradictory message on top. Understand the consequence first: editing a request may roll back that request and subsequent edits. Review the resulting diff rather than assuming the rollback produced a clean workspace. The documented “Get an agent back on track” workflow describes steering, follow-ups, and request editing in Visual Studio Code (get an agent back on track).

4. Recover the workspace without losing useful work

Use a checkpoint for a local recovery point

Some agent sessions create checkpoints that can restore files to an earlier state. Restore to the point immediately before the unwanted edits, then inspect both the restored diff and the source-control status. Checkpoint behavior varies by session type and product; a checkpoint is a convenience for that workflow, not a universal backup.

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Use Git for durable history

Git remains the durable record of your repository. Before resetting or reverting, inspect git status and the complete diff. If you need to preserve part of the agent’s work, save it on a branch or stash only after reviewing what is included. Restore or revert narrowly; a broad reset can discard unrelated manual edits.

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A clean rollback point proves only that you can return to an earlier state. It does not prove that the next agent-generated result is correct. Visual Studio Code’s change-review documentation covers restoring agent edits and the relationship between those controls and source control (review and revert agent changes).

Choose the recovery method deliberately

Question If the answer is yes Implication
Is the current run still safe but misdirected? Steer it Preserves useful context and limits disruption.
Is most completed work useful with one clear mismatch? Follow up Repairs a bounded defect without undoing the whole run.
Is the prompt itself ambiguous? Edit the request May roll back that request and later edits; inspect the result.
Are later changes broadly unwanted? Restore a checkpoint Returns files to an earlier session state when supported.
Do you need a durable, auditable baseline? Use Git Provides history independent of an agent’s session controls.
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5. Remove context confusion

State the current goal and boundaries

Start the next instruction with the authoritative goal: what behavior must change, what must not change, which files are in scope, and how success will be checked. Mention earlier decisions that must be preserved, such as a public API, migration format, or compatibility requirement. Attach the relevant files, symbols, stack trace, and command output instead of asking the agent to rediscover them.

Compact or restart when history is no longer reliable

Long sessions accumulate exploratory attempts, obsolete plans, and contradictory assumptions. If the product supports context compaction, retain a concise summary of the current state, decisions, constraints, changed files, and outstanding error before compacting. The goal is to remove irrelevant history without losing the evidence needed for the next action.

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Start a clean session when the goal or authoritative requirements have changed substantially, or when you cannot explain which earlier instructions remain valid. Carry over only a verified summary and the minimal file and error context. A fresh session does not repair a dirty workspace by itself, so inspect or restore the files first.

Use a handoff summary

A compact handoff can follow this pattern:

Goal: make the retry path preserve the existing API response shape.
In scope: src/retry.ts and its unit tests.
Out of scope: generated clients, dependency versions, formatting-only changes.
Known state: the current diff changes src/retry.ts and openapi.generated.ts.
Failure: test_retry_timeout fails because the response key was renamed.
Required next step: revert the generated-file edit, keep the response key, then run the retry tests.

This is more actionable than repeating the original feature request and leaves less room for an agent to infer a new design.

6. Verify the correction before integrating it

Review the complete diff

Read every changed hunk, including files the agent did not mention. Check for accidental renames, deleted error handling, altered configuration, dependency updates, generated artifacts, and formatting churn. Confirm that the diff matches the stated scope and that no earlier fix has been silently undone.

Run the project’s checks

Use the repository’s appropriate unit tests, integration tests, type checker, linter, build, or debugger checks. Start with the smallest targeted test that exercises the changed behavior, then run broader checks required by the project. Record the command and result so a subsequent agent instruction has concrete evidence.

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Integrate only after two independent checks

Before committing or merging, verify both the code-level diff and the behavioral checks. A test that passes while an unrelated file was modified is not a clean result; a tidy diff that fails the relevant test is not ready to integrate. If a check fails, return to the diagnosis step and state the new failure rather than asking for an unqualified retry.

Product-specific controls and their limits

Documented controls are not interchangeable guarantees. Visual Studio Code provides guidance for steering an active agent, following up after completion, editing requests, reviewing changes, and restoring supported checkpoints (recovery guidance; change review guidance). Another product may use different labels, omit checkpoints, or expose only Git-based recovery.

Codex-style agents are also iterative loops that inspect state, choose tools, receive results, and continue. OpenAI’s explanation of the loop shows why an agent can react to its own tool output and repeat an action when the underlying condition remains unchanged (Unrolling the Codex agent loop). That explanation describes the mechanism, not a comparative reliability ranking or a promise that a particular control will prevent repetition.

A complete recovery checklist

  1. Stop the run or determine whether it is waiting for a question, approval, or terminal command.
  2. Open the changed-file list and inspect the complete diff, including command- and script-generated edits.
  3. Write down the requested outcome, observed error, and the exact action that repeated.
  4. Identify the failed assumption or environmental state; do not rerun the unchanged action.
  5. Choose steering, a focused follow-up, request editing, checkpoint restoration, or Git recovery according to the symptom.
  6. State the authoritative goal, scope boundaries, preserved decisions, relevant files, and acceptance test.
  7. Compact the context or start a clean session if earlier history is irrelevant or contradictory.
  8. Review the full corrected diff and run targeted plus project-required checks.
  9. Commit or merge only after the diff and behavior both meet the stated requirements.

What not to do

  • Do not keep sending “try again” while the same error and environment remain unchanged.
  • Do not assume the editor’s pending-change indicator includes terminal, script, generated, or MCP edits.
  • Do not reset the repository before identifying which manual or agent changes must be retained.
  • Do not add a new instruction that contradicts an older one without explicitly declaring which requirement is authoritative.
  • Do not treat a successful rollback as evidence that the next implementation will be correct.
  • Do not claim an agent is unreliable based on one loop; the available guidance does not establish cross-product success rates or rankings.

When to stop using the current session

End the session and start clean when you cannot produce a trustworthy summary of the current state, when the goal has changed, or when the conversation contains mutually exclusive requirements that you cannot resolve. Preserve the workspace state in Git, document the known failure and last good point, and provide the new session only the files and decisions it needs. If the same narrow correction fails again with new evidence, investigate the code, test, or environment directly rather than delegating the diagnosis indefinitely.

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