Right, But It Wouldn't Stop: Turning Thinking Off in the Agent Loop

Wed, 09 Sep 2026 00:00:01 -0800

Here’s a result that surprised me: the reasoning model wrote more correct code than the plain one — and still lost. It nailed all 32 test cases, then sat there and refused to declare itself done. Burned the whole time budget re-checking work that was already right. “Correct, but won’t stop” turns out to be a real failure mode, and it’s exactly the wrong one for an autonomous agent loop.

Reasoning-Models on Greg Herlein

Right, But It Wouldn't Stop: Turning Thinking Off in the Agent Loop