From 4eb07c44b982076f29331e2d41e1f6963cfc48db Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Nikolas de Hor <nikolasdehor79@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 20 Feb 2026 09:21:27 -0300
Subject: [PATCH 1/2] fix: preserve interim content as fallback when retry
 produces empty response

Fixes regression from #825 where models that respond with final text
directly (no tools) had their answer discarded by the retry mechanism.

Closes #878
---
 nanobot/agent/loop.py | 8 +++++++-
 1 file changed, 7 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/nanobot/agent/loop.py b/nanobot/agent/loop.py
index 3016d92..d817815 100644
--- a/nanobot/agent/loop.py
+++ b/nanobot/agent/loop.py
@@ -185,6 +185,7 @@ class AgentLoop:
         final_content = None
         tools_used: list[str] = []
         text_only_retried = False
+        interim_content: str | None = None  # Fallback if retry produces nothing
 
         while iteration < self.max_iterations:
             iteration += 1
@@ -231,9 +232,11 @@ class AgentLoop:
             else:
                 final_content = self._strip_think(response.content)
                 # Some models send an interim text response before tool calls.
-                # Give them one retry; don't forward the text to avoid duplicates.
+                # Give them one retry; save the content as fallback in case
+                # the retry produces nothing useful (e.g. model already answered).
                 if not tools_used and not text_only_retried and final_content:
                     text_only_retried = True
+                    interim_content = final_content
                     logger.debug("Interim text response (no tools used yet), retrying: {}", final_content[:80])
                     messages = self.context.add_assistant_message(
                         messages, response.content,
@@ -241,6 +244,9 @@ class AgentLoop:
                     )
                     final_content = None
                     continue
+                # Fall back to interim content if retry produced nothing
+                if not final_content and interim_content:
+                    final_content = interim_content
                 break
 
         return final_content, tools_used

From 45f33853cf952b8642c104a5ecaa263a473f4963 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Nikolas de Hor <nikolasdehor79@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 20 Feb 2026 09:37:42 -0300
Subject: [PATCH 2/2] fix: only apply interim fallback when no tools were used

Addresses Codex review: if the model sent interim text then used tools,
the interim text should not be used as fallback for the final response.
---
 nanobot/agent/loop.py | 3 ++-
 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/nanobot/agent/loop.py b/nanobot/agent/loop.py
index d817815..177302e 100644
--- a/nanobot/agent/loop.py
+++ b/nanobot/agent/loop.py
@@ -245,7 +245,8 @@ class AgentLoop:
                     final_content = None
                     continue
                 # Fall back to interim content if retry produced nothing
-                if not final_content and interim_content:
+                # and no tools were used (if tools ran, interim was truly interim)
+                if not final_content and interim_content and not tools_used:
                     final_content = interim_content
                 break