---
title: "Failure handling"
description: "A failure becomes a record with its measured cause, and the fix is tracked until it is closed."
url: "https://docs.octo.ad/agents/failure-handling/"
id: "agents/failure-handling"
type: "concept"
audience: "operator"
dateModified: "2026-11-06"
productArea: "agents at work"
keywords: ["failure", "incident"]
---

# Failure handling

> A failure becomes a record with its measured cause, and the fix is tracked until it is closed.

## After a failure

It becomes a record. Each failure is filed with its measured cause, and a fix is tracked to closure, so the same mistake is news once. That is different from logging: a log entry is a line; a failure record has a cause and a closed state. The briefing tells operators what moved, what is stuck and what is waiting on them.

## When an agent is wrong

Consequential actions pass a coherence check before they run, and data is validated against explicit schemas before it lands. If something still goes wrong, the miss becomes a record with its measured cause, and the fix is tracked until it is closed. A signal the platform cannot read reports unknown, never healthy.

## Failure handling, by category

- **What the category typically offers:** Errors go to logs and dashboards; retries are configurable.
- **What OCTOPUS does:** A failure becomes a tracked record with a measured cause and a fix carried to closure.
- **Question to ask any vendor:** Show the record for your last agent failure and the fix that closed it.