Stuck Detection & Recovery

Symptoms

You are stuck if any of these are true:

• Same error message appeared 2+ times in a row
• You reverted the same change twice
• The metric hasn't improved in 3+ iterations
• You're making changes that don't address the actual error
• You're adding complexity to work around a problem instead of fixing it

Recovery Protocol

0. Check the Scratchpad

Read .devkit/scratchpads/current.md first. It records what was already tried and why it failed. If the scratchpad shows 3+ failed iterations, skip straight to Step 5: Escalate — the pattern of failures is the diagnosis.

1. Stop and Diagnose

Don't retry the same approach. Read the error carefully:

• What is the actual error message?
• What file and line does it point to?
• Is this the same error as last iteration, or a new one?

2. Backtrack

If the last 2+ attempts failed:

• Revert to the last known-good state: git checkout -- .
• Re-read the original goal and the current state of the code
• The problem may be upstream of where you're looking

3. Simplify

Reduce scope:

• Fix one thing at a time, not three
• Remove the last thing you added and see if the base case works
• Use the simplest possible implementation, even if inelegant

4. Change Strategy

If the same approach failed twice:

• Try a fundamentally different approach, not a variation
• Read the docs or source of the library/API you're calling
• Check if the function signature or types changed

5. Escalate

If you've tried 3+ different approaches:

• Report what you've tried and what failed
• Show the exact error
• Ask the user for guidance — they may know something you don't

Anti-Patterns

• Retry loop — Running the same command hoping for a different result
• Shotgun debugging — Changing multiple things at once without understanding why
• Complexity spiral — Adding workarounds on top of workarounds
• Ignoring the error — Suppressing or catching exceptions instead of fixing the cause