fix: increase tool call limit to 50 and show clear pause message (#2828)

e2e-tests/fixtures/engine/local-agent/step-limit.ts

+import type {
+  LocalAgentFixture,
+  Turn,
+} from "../../../../testing/fake-llm-server/localAgentTypes";
+
+/**
+ * Fixture that triggers the step limit by generating 50 tool call turns.
+ * The AI SDK's stepCountIs(50) will stop after 50 steps, and the handler
+ * will append a <dyad-step-limit> notice to the response.
+ */
+const toolCallTurns: Turn[] = Array.from({ length: 50 }, (_, i) => ({
+  text: `Step ${i + 1}: reading file.`,
+  toolCalls: [
+    {
+      name: "read_file",
+      args: { path: "package.json" },
+    },
+  ],
+}));
+
+// Final text-only turn (won't be reached because stepCountIs(50) stops first)
+const finalTurn: Turn = {
+  text: "All steps completed.",
+};
+
+export const fixture: LocalAgentFixture = {
+  description:
+    "Triggers step limit by making 50+ tool call rounds, causing a pause notification",
+  turns: [...toolCallTurns, finalTurn],
+};

e2e-tests/local_agent_step_limit.spec.ts

+import { expect } from "@playwright/test";
+import { Timeout, testSkipIfWindows } from "./helpers/test_helper";
+
+/**
+ * E2E test for the step limit feature.
+ * When the local agent hits 50 tool call steps, it pauses and shows
+ * a <dyad-step-limit> notification card.
+ */
+
+testSkipIfWindows("local-agent - step limit pause", async ({ po }) => {
+  await po.setUpDyadPro({ localAgent: true });
+  await po.importApp("minimal");
+  await po.chatActions.selectLocalAgentMode();
+
+  await po.sendPrompt("tc=local-agent/step-limit");
+
+  // Verify the step limit card is visible
+  await expect(
+    po.page.getByText("Paused after 50 tool calls", { exact: true }),
+  ).toBeVisible({
+    timeout: Timeout.EXTRA_LONG,
+  });
+
+  // Verify the "Continue" button is shown
+  await expect(po.page.getByRole("button", { name: "Continue" })).toBeVisible({
+    timeout: Timeout.MEDIUM,
+  });
+
+  // Click the "Continue" button
+  await po.page.getByRole("button", { name: "Continue" }).click();
+
+  await po.snapshotMessages();
+});

e2e-tests/snapshots/local_agent_step_limit.spec.ts_local-agent---step-limit-pause-1.aria.yml

+- paragraph: /Generate an AI_RULES\.md file for this app\. Describe the tech stack in 5-\d+ bullet points and describe clear rules about what libraries to use for what\./
+- button "file1.txt file1.txt Edit":
+  - img
+  - text: ""
+  - button "Edit":
+    - img
+    - text: ""
+  - img
+- paragraph: More EOM
+- button "Copy":
+  - img
+- img
+- text: Approved
+- img
+- text: claude-opus-4-5
+- img
+- text: less than a minute ago
+- img
+- text: (1 files changed)
+- button "Copy Request ID":
+  - img
+  - text: ""
+- paragraph: tc=local-agent/step-limit
+- paragraph: "Step 1: reading file."
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "Step 2: reading file."
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "Step 3: reading file."
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "Step 4: reading file."
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "Step 5: reading file."
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "Step 6: reading file."
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "Step 7: reading file."
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "Step 8: reading file."
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "Step 9: reading file."
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "/Step \\d+: reading file\\./"
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "/Step \\d+: reading file\\./"
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "/Step \\d+: reading file\\./"
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "/Step \\d+: reading file\\./"
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "/Step \\d+: reading file\\./"
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "/Step \\d+: reading file\\./"
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "/Step \\d+: reading file\\./"
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "/Step \\d+: reading file\\./"
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "/Step \\d+: reading file\\./"
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "/Step \\d+: reading file\\./"
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "/Step \\d+: reading file\\./"
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "/Step \\d+: reading file\\./"
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "/Step \\d+: reading file\\./"
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "/Step \\d+: reading file\\./"
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "/Step \\d+: reading file\\./"
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "/Step \\d+: reading file\\./"
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "/Step \\d+: reading file\\./"
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "/Step \\d+: reading file\\./"
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "/Step \\d+: reading file\\./"
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "/Step \\d+: reading file\\./"
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "/Step \\d+: reading file\\./"
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "/Step \\d+: reading file\\./"
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "/Step \\d+: reading file\\./"
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "/Step \\d+: reading file\\./"
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "/Step \\d+: reading file\\./"
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "/Step \\d+: reading file\\./"
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "/Step \\d+: reading file\\./"
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "/Step \\d+: reading file\\./"
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "/Step \\d+: reading file\\./"
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "/Step \\d+: reading file\\./"
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "/Step \\d+: reading file\\./"
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "/Step \\d+: reading file\\./"
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "/Step \\d+: reading file\\./"
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "/Step \\d+: reading file\\./"
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "/Step \\d+: reading file\\./"
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "/Step \\d+: reading file\\./"
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "/Step \\d+: reading file\\./"
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "/Step \\d+: reading file\\./"
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "/Step \\d+: reading file\\./"
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "/Step \\d+: reading file\\./"
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- paragraph: "/Step \\d+: reading file\\./"
+- img
+- text: Read package.json
+- img
+- text: /Paused after \d+ tool calls/
+- button "Continue":
+  - img
+  - text: ""
+- text: /Automatically paused after \d+ tool calls\./
+- button "Copy":
+  - img
+- img
+- text: Approved
+- img
+- text: claude-opus-4-5
+- img
+- text: less than a minute ago
+- button "Copy Request ID":
+  - img
+  - text: ""
+- paragraph: Continue
+- button "file1.txt file1.txt Edit":
+  - img
+  - text: ""
+  - button "Edit":
+    - img
+    - text: ""
+  - img
+- paragraph: More EOM
+- button "Copy":
+  - img
+- img
+- text: claude-opus-4-5
+- img
+- text: less than a minute ago
+- button "Copy Request ID":
+  - img
+  - text: ""
+- button "Undo":
+  - img
+  - text: ""
+- button "Retry":
+  - img
+  - text: ""
\ No newline at end of file

package-lock.json

 {
   "name": "dyad",
-  "version": "0.38.0-beta.1",
+  "version": "0.39.0-beta.1",
   "lockfileVersion": 3,
   "requires": true,
   "packages": {
     "": {
       "name": "dyad",
-      "version": "0.38.0-beta.1",
+      "version": "0.39.0-beta.1",
       "license": "MIT",
       "dependencies": {
         "@ai-sdk/amazon-bedrock": "^4.0.46",

src/components/chat/DyadMarkdownParser.tsx

@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ import { DyadCompaction } from "./DyadCompaction";
 import { DyadWritePlan } from "./DyadWritePlan";
 import { DyadExitPlan } from "./DyadExitPlan";
 import { DyadQuestionnaire } from "./DyadQuestionnaire";
+import { DyadStepLimit } from "./DyadStepLimit";
 import { mapActionToButton } from "./ChatInput";
 import { SuggestedAction } from "@/lib/schemas";
 import { FixAllErrorsButton } from "./FixAllErrorsButton";
@@ -82,6 +83,8 @@ const DYAD_CUSTOM_TAGS = [
   "dyad-write-plan",
   "dyad-exit-plan",
   "dyad-questionnaire",
+  // Step limit notification
+  "dyad-step-limit",
 ];
 
 interface DyadMarkdownParserProps {
@@ -802,6 +805,21 @@ function renderCustomTag(
     case "dyad-questionnaire":
       return <DyadQuestionnaire>{content}</DyadQuestionnaire>;
 
+    case "dyad-step-limit":
+      return (
+        <DyadStepLimit
+          node={{
+            properties: {
+              steps: attributes.steps,
+              limit: attributes.limit,
+              state: getState({ isStreaming, inProgress }),
+            },
+          }}
+        >
+          {content}
+        </DyadStepLimit>
+      );
+
     default:
       return null;
   }

src/components/chat/DyadStepLimit.tsx

+import React, { useState } from "react";
+import { useAtomValue } from "jotai";
+import { CustomTagState } from "./stateTypes";
+import {
+  DyadCard,
+  DyadCardHeader,
+  DyadCardContent,
+} from "./DyadCardPrimitives";
+import { PauseCircle, Play, Loader2 } from "lucide-react";
+import { Button } from "@/components/ui/button";
+import { useStreamChat } from "@/hooks/useStreamChat";
+import { selectedChatIdAtom } from "@/atoms/chatAtoms";
+
+interface DyadStepLimitProps {
+  node: {
+    properties: {
+      steps?: string;
+      limit?: string;
+      state?: CustomTagState;
+    };
+  };
+  children?: React.ReactNode;
+}
+
+export function DyadStepLimit({ node, children }: DyadStepLimitProps) {
+  const { steps = "50", limit: _limit = "50", state } = node.properties;
+  const isFinished = state === "finished";
+  const content = typeof children === "string" ? children : "";
+  const chatId = useAtomValue(selectedChatIdAtom);
+  const { streamMessage } = useStreamChat();
+  const [isLoading, setIsLoading] = useState(false);
+
+  const handleContinue = () => {
+    if (!chatId) return;
+    setIsLoading(true);
+    streamMessage({
+      prompt: "Continue",
+      chatId,
+      onSettled: () => setIsLoading(false),
+    });
+  };
+
+  return (
+    <DyadCard state={state} accentColor="amber" isExpanded={true}>
+      <DyadCardHeader icon={<PauseCircle size={15} />} accentColor="amber">
+        <span className="font-medium text-sm text-foreground">
+          Paused after {steps} tool calls
+        </span>
+        {isFinished && (
+          <Button
+            variant="outline"
+            size="sm"
+            disabled={isLoading}
+            onClick={handleContinue}
+            className="ml-auto hover:cursor-pointer"
+          >
+            {isLoading ? (
+              <Loader2 size={14} className="mr-1 animate-spin" />
+            ) : (
+              <Play size={14} className="mr-1" />
+            )}
+            Continue
+          </Button>
+        )}
+      </DyadCardHeader>
+      <DyadCardContent isExpanded={true}>
+        {content && (
+          <div className="p-3 text-sm text-muted-foreground">{content}</div>
+        )}
+      </DyadCardContent>
+    </DyadCard>
+  );
+}

src/pro/main/ipc/handlers/local_agent/local_agent_handler.ts

@@ -83,6 +83,11 @@ const MAX_TERMINATED_STREAM_RETRIES = 2;
 const STREAM_RETRY_BASE_DELAY_MS = 400;
 const STREAM_CONTINUE_MESSAGE =
   "[System] Your previous response stream was interrupted by a transient network error. Continue from exactly where you left off and do not repeat text that has already been sent.";
+/**
+ * Maximum number of tool call steps before pausing.
+ * This prevents runaway loops while allowing complex multi-step tasks.
+ */
+const MAX_TOOL_CALL_STEPS = 50;
 
 // ============================================================================
 // Tool Streaming State Management
@@ -566,6 +571,8 @@ export async function handleLocalAgentStream(
     let hasInjectedPlanningQuestionnaireReflection = false;
     let currentMessageHistory = messageHistory;
     const accumulatedAiMessages: ModelMessage[] = [];
+    // Track total steps across all passes to detect step limit
+    let totalStepsExecuted = 0;
 
     // If there are persisted todos from a previous turn, inject a synthetic
     // user message so the LLM is aware of them. Inserted BEFORE the user's
@@ -661,7 +668,7 @@ export async function handleLocalAgentStream(
             messages: attemptMessages,
             tools: allTools,
             stopWhen: [
-              stepCountIs(25),
+              stepCountIs(MAX_TOOL_CALL_STEPS),
               hasToolCall(addIntegrationTool.name),
               // In plan mode, also stop after writing a plan or exiting plan mode.
               ...(planModeOnly
@@ -1062,6 +1069,9 @@ export async function handleLocalAgentStream(
         break;
       }
 
+      // Track total steps for step limit detection
+      totalStepsExecuted += steps.length;
+
       if (responseMessages.length > 0) {
         // For mid-turn compaction, slice off pre-compaction messages
         const messagesToAccumulate =
@@ -1133,6 +1143,24 @@ export async function handleLocalAgentStream(
       return false; // Cancelled - don't consume quota
     }
 
+    // Check if we hit the step limit and append a notice to the response
+    if (totalStepsExecuted >= MAX_TOOL_CALL_STEPS) {
+      logger.info(
+        `Chat ${req.chatId} hit step limit of ${MAX_TOOL_CALL_STEPS} steps`,
+      );
+      const stepLimitMessage = `\n\n<dyad-step-limit steps="${totalStepsExecuted}" limit="${MAX_TOOL_CALL_STEPS}">Automatically paused after ${totalStepsExecuted} tool calls.</dyad-step-limit>`;
+      fullResponse += stepLimitMessage;
+      await updateResponseInDb(placeholderMessageId, fullResponse);
+      sendResponseChunk(
+        event,
+        req.chatId,
+        chat,
+        fullResponse,
+        placeholderMessageId,
+        hiddenMessageIdsForStreaming,
+      );
+    }
+
     // Save the AI SDK messages for multi-turn tool call preservation
     try {
       const aiMessagesJson = getAiMessagesJsonIfWithinLimit(