Context Leakage

The failure mode in which an agent loses the intent of the original task as it progresses through a multi-step process — completing each step correctly in isolation while producing a result that is logically irrelevant to the goal.

Context Leakage is the most common failure mode in long-running agentic workflows. It does not announce itself the way a discrete error does. The agent continues executing — fetching data, reconciling records, updating systems — and at each individual step the output is technically correct. The problem is cumulative. Small deviations in interpretation compound across a long process until the agent is following the instructions precisely and producing a result the original task never intended. The system has not broken. It has drifted.

First used: March 2026