810 B
810 B
Watchdog Pattern
Definition
A deterministic code pattern used in Adversarial Debate to break infinite loops. The Watchdog sits between the Critic and Judge, monitoring debate iteration count or time elapsed, and terminates the loop if thresholds are exceeded.
Role in Multi-Agent Systems
- Prevents agents from getting stuck in infinite debate loops
- Deterministic (not LLM) — reliable decision-making
- Configurable thresholds: time-based or iteration-count-based
- Acts as safety circuit breaker
Key Properties
- Pure deterministic code, not an LLM
- Breaks loop when: iteration_count > MAX or time > TIMEOUT
- Placed between Critic and Judge
- Essential for production systems to prevent resource exhaustion