Dev Tools · 18h ago
Smolagents bug makes agents retry valid code due to misleading error
A bug in smolagents' LocalPythonExecutor sandbox causes valid Python dict unpacking to fail with a misleading 'NoneType' error. The error message points to a null value that doesn't exist, leading agents to retry the same code three times. Each retry wastes LLM calls and step budget until the run times out.
Meridian48 take
The bug is a classic example of how a poor error message can compound costs in agentic systems, turning a minor sandbox flaw into a significant efficiency drain.
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The smolagents bug that made my agent retry the same valid code three times →
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