Checking and Refining the Agent's Reasoning › Why Agents Need to Check Their Work
Michael BrenndoerferJune 19, 20251 min read
AI Agent HandbookAll chapters Part 4 of 15Reasoning - Teaching the Agent to Think
Checking and Refining the Agent's Reasoning › Why Agents Need to Check Their WorkOne section · Sections in this chapter2 / 14 ↓
Sections in this chapter14
Imagine asking your personal assistant to calculate the best time to leave for the airport. It reasons through the problem: "Flight is at 3 PM, need to arrive 2 hours early, drive takes 30 minutes, so leave at 12:30 PM." Sounds good, right?
But what if it's Friday afternoon and traffic will be terrible? What if you need to return a rental car first? What if the airport is known for long security lines? A single pass through the reasoning might miss these factors.
Language models, despite their impressive capabilities, can make similar oversights. They might:
- Make arithmetic errors in multi-step calculations
- Misinterpret a key detail in the problem
- Apply the wrong formula or approach
- Forget to consider edge cases or constraints
- Reach a conclusion that contradicts their own reasoning
The good news? You can prompt the agent to review its thinking, just like you might ask a colleague, "Are you sure about that?" or "Can you walk me through your reasoning again?"