microloop 0.1.2

Ultra-fast runtime safety layer for autonomous agents — detects agent tool call loops before they burn API credits

Microloop

Stop burning API credits on loops your AI agent shouldn't be running.

Rust · Python · C · Proxy · WASM

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Every AI agent gets stuck in a loop eventually.

Your write_file call fails. So the agent calls write_file again—with the exact same arguments. It fails again. The agent doesn't learn. It just burns another cent. Then another. Then another.

Fifty calls later, you've wasted $0.50 and a minute of latency. Overnight? Hundreds of dollars. All for zero progress.

Microloop catches these loops in under a microsecond—before the call ever reaches the API.

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The Old Way: Counting Steps

Every agent framework ships a step counter. max_iterations, max_consecutive_auto_reply, max_tokens—they all do the same thing: kill the process after N steps.

The problem? A counter is blind.

Approach	What happens
max_iterations=10	Blocks a valid 15-step workflow at step 11. Lets a 2-step loop burn 8 more expensive API calls.
Microloop	Lets the valid workflow finish. Blocks the loop at step 2—the first repeat.

A counter measures quantity. Microloop measures redundancy.

Your agent gets infinite steps as long as it's making progress. The moment it repeats itself, Microloop stops the bleeding.

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How It Works

sequenceDiagram
    participant Agent as Your Agent
    participant M as 🔁 Microloop
    participant LLM as LLM Provider

    Agent->>M: write_file(\"/tmp/x.txt\")
    M->>M: Hash tool + args
    M-->>Agent: ✅ Allow (first time)
    Agent->>LLM: Generate next step...

    Agent->>M: write_file(\"/tmp/x.txt\")  (same call)
    M->>M: Hash matches previous!
    M-->>Agent: ❌ Block (loop detected in 460ns)
    Note over Agent: Agent is forced to pivot

No API roundtrip. No wasted tokens. No external service.

Microloop sits between your agent and the LLM, hashing every tool call before it leaves the machine. When the same tool with the same arguments appears twice, the third identical call is blocked instantly—at 460 nanoseconds.

Compare that to the 1.5 seconds and 200 tokens an LLM needs to figure out it's looping.

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What Makes Microloop Different

🔒 It's Deterministic, Not Probabilistic

An LLM might realize it's looping. Or it might hallucinate a new approach that's even worse. Microloop uses exact hash comparison—if the trajectory repeats, it's blocked, 100% of the time. No guesswork.

⚡ It's Local, Not Remote

No API call. No external service. No container. The check runs in your process, in nanoseconds. Microloop can't go down, can't be rate-limited, and costs exactly zero to operate.

🧠 It Detects Patterns, Not Just Steps

A counter kills your process after N steps regardless of what happened. Microloop only fires when it sees actual repetition. Your agent gets infinite steps as long as it's doing new things.

🔌 It Works Everywhere

Drop it into any agent framework—LangChain, AutoGen, CrewAI, OpenAI, Anthropic, any OpenAI-compatible client. Use it via the Rust crate, Python package, or the zero-config reverse proxy.

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Quick Start

// One function call. That's it.
use microloop::{MicroloopState, verify};

let mut state = MicroloopState::new("max_repeats: 3").unwrap();
let result = verify(&mut state, b"write_file", b"{\"path\": \"/tmp/x.txt\"}");
//      ^^^ 0 = allow, 1+ = block (loop detected)

Or use the proxy (zero code changes)

# Start the proxy, point your agent at it
TARGET_API_URL=https://api.openai.com OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-... cargo run -p microloop-proxy

# Any OpenAI-compatible agent now has loop protection
# No code changes required

Or use Python

from microloop.microloop_core import Microloop
engine = Microloop("max_repeats: 3")
result = engine.verify("write_file", '{"path": "/tmp/x.txt"}')

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Benchmarks That Matter

What	Microloop	LLM-Prompted Detection
Time per check	460 nanoseconds	1.5 seconds
Cost per check	$0	~200 tokens burned
Deterministic	Yes	No (hallucinates)
False positives	0% (tested)	Common
Memory footprint	< 10 MB	N/A

Over half a million checks per second per thread. Zero measurable overhead on your agent's latency.

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Smart Features

🎯 Automatic Volatile Field Detection

Tools like search often pass a req_id or timestamp that changes on every call—bypassing naive loop detectors. Microloop automatically detects these high-entropy fields and excludes them from comparison, so it catches the loop even when the incidental parameters keep changing.

🧩 Adaptive Thresholding

When Microloop detects errors in the loop trajectory, it tightens the threshold automatically—forcing your agent to pivot faster when it's stuck in a failing pattern.

🔄 Redis-Backed Blocklists

Running multiple proxy instances? Microloop supports Redis for shared state across your deployment.

🌐 Semantic Detection (Optional Sidecar)

For teams that need it, an optional sidecar uses lightweight embeddings to catch semantic loops—cases where the tool name differs but the intent is the same. delete_line(5) and remove_line(5) look different to a hash, but the sidecar sees they're the same.

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Who Uses It

Use Case	Why Microloop
AI coding assistants	Agents that edit code are notorious for repeating the same failed edit. Microloop catches it at the second repeat.
Customer support bots	A bot stuck on "I don't have that information" burns money and frustrates users. Microloop forces it to escalate.
Data pipeline agents	ETL agents that retry the same failed API call 50 times. Microloop stops it after 3.
Research automation	Overnight experiments that cost $200 because the agent got stuck in a loop at 2 AM. Microloop prevents the bill.

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Configuration

Microloop fits in a single YAML file:

max_repeats: 3
history_window: 8
tools:
  - name: delete_line
    trajectory_gate:
      volatile_fields: ["line"]

That's it. Four knobs, one job.

• max_repeats: How many identical calls before blocking (default: 3)
• history_window: How far back to look for repeats (default: max_repeats × 2)
• volatile_fields: Fields to ignore (timestamps, request IDs)
• error_detection: Optional rules for detecting error responses

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Platform Support

Platform	Integration
Rust	cargo add microloop
Python	pip install microloop
C / C++ / Go	Link libmicroloop.so, include microloop.h
WASM	Browser-based agents and edge runtimes
OpenAI Proxy	Zero-config reverse proxy for any OpenAI-compatible client
Anthropic Proxy	Same proxy, one config switch

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Security

Found a vulnerability? Email the maintainers directly—don't file a public issue. See SECURITY.md.

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License

Apache 2.0 — free for personal, commercial, and enterprise use.