fix(providers): remove default agent tool-call iteration cap (#8829)

* fix(providers): remove default agent tool-call iteration cap

* docs(providers): note no execution timeout when billing is disabled

Author: waleedlatif1

apps/docs/content/docs/platform/self-hosting/environment-variables.mdx

@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ import { Callout } from 'fumadocs-ui/components/callout'
 </Callout>
 
 <Callout type="info">
-  **Agent tool-call depth.** An Agent block ends its run after 20 model round trips of tool calling. Raise the ceiling with `MAX_TOOL_ITERATIONS` (for example `MAX_TOOL_ITERATIONS=50`). Every extra iteration is another model call, so raise it deliberately.
+  **Agent tool-call depth.** An Agent block keeps calling tools until the model answers, with no round-trip limit by default. With billing disabled there is also no execution timeout unless `EXECUTION_TIMEOUT_FREE` (sync) or `EXECUTION_TIMEOUT_ASYNC_FREE` (async) is set, so a looping agent keeps making paid model calls. Set `MAX_TOOL_ITERATIONS` (for example `MAX_TOOL_ITERATIONS=50`) to cap the model round trips per block, or set those timeouts to bound the whole run.
 </Callout>
 
 ### Catalog visibility

apps/sim/.env.example

@@ -244,9 +244,10 @@ CRON_SECRET=your_cron_secret # Use `openssl rand -hex 32` to generate. Authentic
 # TABLE_DISPATCH_CONCURRENCY_PAID=50    # Rows one table run executes in parallel on paid tiers (billing disabled uses this)
 # FREE_STORAGE_LIMIT_GB=5               # File storage quota in GB
 
-# Agent tool-call loop (Optional). Model round trips one Agent block takes before it
-# must answer. Defaults to 20; raise it for agents that chain many tool calls.
-# MAX_TOOL_ITERATIONS=20
+# Agent tool-call loop (Optional). Caps the model round trips one Agent block takes
+# before it must answer. Unbounded when unset. With billing disabled, runs also have no
+# execution timeout unless EXECUTION_TIMEOUT_FREE / EXECUTION_TIMEOUT_ASYNC_FREE are set.
+# MAX_TOOL_ITERATIONS=50
 
 # Mistral OCR capacity (regular KBs, Sim Search and Mistral tools share these limits)
 # Use operating ceilings below the organization's actual quota, allowing for other clients.

apps/sim/executor/handlers/pi/search/normalize.ts

@@ -37,10 +37,9 @@ export const PI_SEARCH_TRUNCATED_MESSAGE =
  * Searches one Pi block execution may make. Pi's agent loop has no turn ceiling of its own, so
  * without this a model that starts looping — or is talked into it by an injected instruction in a
  * diff or a result — keeps spending the workspace's own provider quota until Sim's execution
- * timeout. The neighbouring ceilings are the precedent: `MAX_TOOL_CALLS` in `cloud-review-tools.ts`
- * and `MAX_TOOL_ITERATIONS` in `providers/index.ts`. Sized well above what genuine research needs,
- * since exceeding it fails the tool call. Stated as a number in the Pi block docs
- * (`workflows/blocks/pi.mdx`), so change both.
+ * timeout. The neighbouring ceiling is the precedent: `MAX_TOOL_CALLS` in `cloud-review-tools.ts`.
+ * Sized well above what genuine research needs, since exceeding it fails the tool call. Stated as a
+ * number in the Pi block docs (`workflows/blocks/pi.mdx`), so change both.
  *
  * Scope is one **block execution**, not one workflow run: the counter lives in the tool spec, and
  * both adapters build a fresh spec per execution (`buildPiSearchToolSpec` from `pi-handler.ts`, and

apps/sim/lib/core/config/env.ts

@@ -424,7 +424,7 @@ export const env = createEnv({
     EXECUTION_TIMEOUT_ASYNC_ENTERPRISE:    z.string().optional().default('5400'),  // 90 minutes
 
     // Agent Tool-Call Loop
-    MAX_TOOL_ITERATIONS:                   z.string().optional(),                  // Max model round trips per Agent block tool-call loop (default 20)
+    MAX_TOOL_ITERATIONS:                   z.string().optional(),                  // Max model round trips per Agent block tool-call loop (unbounded when unset)
 
     // Isolated-VM Worker Pool Configuration
     IVM_POOL_SIZE:                         z.string().optional().default('4'),      // Max worker processes in pool

apps/sim/providers/azure-openai/index.ts

@@ -338,7 +338,7 @@ async function executeChatCompletionsRequest(
       }
 
       logger.info(
-        `Processing ${toolCallsInResponse.length} tool calls (iteration ${iterationCount + 1}/${MAX_TOOL_ITERATIONS})`
+        `Processing ${toolCallsInResponse.length} tool calls (iteration ${iterationCount + 1})`
       )
 
       const toolsStartTime = Date.now()

apps/sim/providers/index.ts

@@ -131,18 +131,14 @@ async function prepareProviderFileAttachments(request: ProviderRequest): Promise
   }
 }
 
-/** Round trips an Agent block's tool loop takes before it is forced to answer. */
-const DEFAULT_MAX_TOOL_ITERATIONS = 20
-
 /**
- * Maximum number of iterations for tool call loops to prevent infinite loops.
- * Used across all providers that support tool/function calling.
- *
- * Self-hosted deployments that need longer agent runs raise it with the
- * `MAX_TOOL_ITERATIONS` env var; a value that is not a positive integer falls
- * back to {@link DEFAULT_MAX_TOOL_ITERATIONS}.
+ * Maximum model round trips in an Agent block's tool-call loop. Unbounded by
+ * default: the loop runs until the model stops calling tools, bounded only by
+ * the execution timeout (none when billing is disabled and no timeout env var is
+ * set) and usage limits. Set the `MAX_TOOL_ITERATIONS` env var to a positive
+ * integer to impose a ceiling; any other value leaves it unbounded.
  */
-export const MAX_TOOL_ITERATIONS = envNumber(env.MAX_TOOL_ITERATIONS, DEFAULT_MAX_TOOL_ITERATIONS, {
+export const MAX_TOOL_ITERATIONS = envNumber(env.MAX_TOOL_ITERATIONS, Number.POSITIVE_INFINITY, {
   min: 1,
   integer: true,
 })

apps/sim/providers/litellm/index.ts

@@ -371,7 +371,7 @@ export const litellmProvider: ProviderConfig = {
         }
 
         logger.info(
-          `Processing ${toolCallsInResponse.length} tool calls (iteration ${iterationCount + 1}/${MAX_TOOL_ITERATIONS})`
+          `Processing ${toolCallsInResponse.length} tool calls (iteration ${iterationCount + 1})`
         )
 
         const toolsStartTime = Date.now()

apps/sim/providers/mistral/index.ts

@@ -290,7 +290,7 @@ export const mistralProvider: ProviderConfig = {
         }
 
         logger.info(
-          `Processing ${toolCallsInResponse.length} tool calls (iteration ${iterationCount + 1}/${MAX_TOOL_ITERATIONS})`
+          `Processing ${toolCallsInResponse.length} tool calls (iteration ${iterationCount + 1})`
         )
 
         const toolsStartTime = Date.now()

apps/sim/providers/ollama/core.ts

@@ -297,7 +297,7 @@ export async function executeOllamaProviderRequest(
       }
 
       logger.info(
-        `Processing ${toolCallsInResponse.length} tool calls (iteration ${iterationCount + 1}/${MAX_TOOL_ITERATIONS})`
+        `Processing ${toolCallsInResponse.length} tool calls (iteration ${iterationCount + 1})`
       )
 
       const toolsStartTime = Date.now()

apps/sim/providers/openai/core.ts

@@ -729,9 +729,7 @@ export async function executeResponsesProviderRequest(
       }
 
       logger.info(
-        `Processing ${toolCallsInResponse.length} tool calls in parallel (iteration ${
-          iterationCount + 1
-        }/${MAX_TOOL_ITERATIONS})`
+        `Processing ${toolCallsInResponse.length} tool calls in parallel (iteration ${iterationCount + 1})`
       )
 
       const toolsStartTime = Date.now()