The Tool Desk
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1. Check whether the agent is waiting, working, or off track
Do not launch a second attempt until you know what the first one is doing. Look for an unanswered question, a permission or approval prompt, and any terminal command that is still running. An agent that looks idle in an editor may still be waiting on a command.
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For a cloud session, check its logs and the service’s status if available. Apparent inactivity by itself does not prove the process has failed. Microsoft’s Visual Studio Code documentation notes that an agent can misunderstand a goal, repeat an unsuccessful action, change more files than expected, or lose track of an earlier decision: Get an agent back on track.
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2. Stop risky work—or steer a safe mistake
Interrupt immediately if the next action could delete data, deploy code, expose secrets, or change an external system. If the current action is safe but the approach is wrong, a focused correction may be enough. Controls differ by product and version, so use the instructions for the client you are running.
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In VS Code chat
VS Code offers two different ways to redirect an agent. Steer with Message sends your correction after the current tool call finishes. Stop and Send cancels the request and sends the correction immediately. Choose the latter when continuing the current action is unsafe.
In other clients
The cancellation control is product-specific. For example, Anthropic’s Claude Code FAQ says Ctrl+C cancels the current generation. GitHub documents Stop or Esc in the Copilot app and double-Esc in Copilot CLI for computer-use operations. Check the current instructions for your version rather than assuming one shortcut works everywhere.
After interrupting, ask the agent to report which commands it completed and what effects they had. Cancellation stops future work; it does not reverse completed edits or actions outside the workspace, such as a deployment or external-service change.
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3. Find the first divergence and assess the impact
Review the agent’s recent tool activity and terminal output alongside the workspace diff. Start with the earliest action that no longer matches your request; later changes may be consequences of that first mistake.
- List the files and paths it touched, then separate useful edits from changes that need revision or removal.
- Read relevant command output and errors. Identify the first failed assumption, not just the final failure.
- Check whether activity stayed within workspace files or also reached network resources, deployments, or external services.
This review tells you whether a narrow correction is safe or whether you need to contain a wider impact. A local file restore cannot be assumed to reverse an action taken elsewhere.
4. Preserve good work and undo only what you mean to undo
If most of the work is sound, keep it and ask for a bounded correction. If you need to roll back workspace edits, first inspect exactly which changes the rollback will remove. Record any useful decisions or errors before restoring so they are not lost with the session history.
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Using VS Code checkpoints
In supported VS Code chat sessions, checkpoints are created automatically before each request. Restoring a checkpoint returns affected workspace files and chat history to that point. Review the changes that will be removed before restoring; a checkpoint applies to workspace state and chat history, not external actions already taken.
5. Give a correction the agent can verify
A useful correction names the mismatch, the intended result, the boundaries, and how success should be checked. For example:
“You changed files outside
src/parser, which I did not request. Keep the existing parser changes, do not modify other paths, and update only the failing parsing case. Run the parser tests and report the result. Before retrying the failed command, explain its first error and which assumption it disproved.”Rank #4
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Avoid prompts such as “try again” or “fix it.” They do not tell the agent which work to preserve, what to avoid, or what evidence should count as success.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.6. Reduce the chance of another unwanted change
Agree on scope before broad or risky edits
For a large or consequential task, ask for a plan or use a read-only mode if the product supports one. Specify allowed paths, exclusions, and a test or smoke check to run. Ask for reviewable diffs and a concise account of tool activity.
Limit permissions to what the task needs
GitHub documents directory-scoped access and prompts before Copilot CLI modifies files. Its app can run sessions in separate worktrees or cloud sandboxes. OpenAI describes Codex sandbox boundaries and approval policy as complementary controls. A worktree or sandbox can isolate workspace changes, but it does not replace reviewing what a session may do through network access or external services.
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Overly narrow permissions can prevent an agent from completing a task. Expand access only when a specific required action is blocked, and only to the scope that action needs. GitHub notes that Copilot CLI’s --allow-all option lets the agent use tools, paths, and URLs that would otherwise require permission; it is not a universal recovery setting. If your client supports an autopilot continuation limit, set one for unattended work.
Make repository rules easy to follow
Keep project instructions short, explicit, and actionable. Anthropic’s FAQ recommends placing hard rules near the top and using imperative wording when project instructions are being ignored. State both what the agent should do and what it must not change.
7. Apply service-specific recovery only when it fits
“Stuck” does not have one universal timeout or retry procedure. GitHub says a Copilot cloud agent session that remains stuck times out after an hour. For that documented scenario, GitHub’s recovery guidance is to unassign and reassign the issue; if the agent stalled while responding to a PR comment, post the comment again. Do not apply that one-hour timeout or retry sequence to other products.
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When evaluating an agent or deciding how to run a session, check whether it exposes pending approvals and running commands; how reliably you can interrupt it; whether diffs, logs, and tool activity are reviewable; whether workspace checkpoints are available; how finely permissions can be scoped; and whether sessions can run in an isolated worktree or sandbox. These are practical control questions, not a ranking of products.
Quick Recap
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