Your Coding Agent Is Still Running. Interrupt It?

Interrupt the wrong trajectory, not a quiet terminal

The agent has been running for six minutes. Your editor shows three modified files, the terminal is quiet, and you are wondering whether to hit Escape. I know that moment: waiting feels irresponsible, but interrupting can turn a coherent patch into half a migration.

My rule is simple: interrupt when new evidence invalidates the plan, not merely when progress becomes invisible. Here is the side-by-side comparison I use while an agent works in a disposable branch or worktree.

A failing test: wrong target or useful investigation?

• Interrupt when the agent changes assertions to accommodate broken behavior instead of fixing the implementation.
• Let it run when it reproduces the failure, traces the relevant call path, and tests a specific hypothesis.

Suppose the task is to preserve timezone offsets during timestamp parsing. If the agent removes the offset assertion, stop it immediately. Say: “Keep the existing contract. Fix parsing, and add a regression test for a negative offset.” That is a correction with an observable finish line.

If it is reading the parser, checking callers, and running the focused test, leave it alone. Exploration is work. A few unsuccessful hypotheses are not evidence that the task needs your keyboard.

A growing diff: necessary plumbing or scope creep?

• Interrupt when a small bug fix expands into unrelated formatting, dependency upgrades, or public API changes.
• Let it run when each additional file supports the requested behavior and has an explainable dependency.

A retry fix can legitimately touch configuration, transport code, and tests. File count alone is a poor alarm. Review the diff for causality: can you explain why each change exists?

In another terminal, I use git diff --stat first, then inspect the actual patch. If the agent starts replacing the HTTP client because it dislikes the current abstraction, I stop it: “Keep the current client. Limit this patch to retry behavior and tests.”

A long command: productive waiting or an approval boundary?

• Interrupt when the next action could delete data, expose secrets, deploy changes, or modify shared infrastructure without approval.
• Let it run when a known build or test command remains active within an agreed time budget.

A quiet integration suite is different from a database reset. Before starting, define the sandbox: local files are writable, production credentials are unavailable, and destructive commands require confirmation. Enforce that with permissions or tool controls where possible; a prompt is not a security boundary.

For long jobs, agree on a checkpoint rather than repeatedly asking for status. “Run the targeted suite; if it exceeds five minutes, report the active command and last output.” Adjust that threshold to the repository, not your patience.

A repeating loop: another attempt or missing information?

• Interrupt when the agent repeats substantially identical commands without incorporating their errors into a changed hypothesis.
• Let it run when each attempt tests something different and produces evidence that narrows the problem.

Three retries against the same authentication failure usually need a credential check, not more creativity. Give the missing fact or narrow the task. Avoid “try harder”; specify what evidence should change the next action.

I use the same checkpoints whether a session runs Claude Sonnet 5.5 or GPT-6.1 Sol. Model choice does not replace boundaries, and switching models mid-loop is less useful than identifying the assumption that failed.

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The verdict: supervise decisions, not every keystroke

Interrupt for a broken contract, unjustified scope, repeated reasoning failures, or an unapproved risk. Otherwise, let the agent reach its next agreed checkpoint. The best intervention changes its information or constraints; the worst merely restarts its concentration.