A circuit breaker watches calls to a service or tool. After enough failures, it opens and rejects new calls for a cooling period, preventing an agent workflow from repeatedly stressing a dependency that is already unhealthy.
The control later permits a limited probe to test recovery before normal traffic resumes. Circuit breakers work with timeouts, retry limits and fallback behavior, and their state should be visible so operators can distinguish protected failure from unexplained inactivity.
ELI5
A circuit breaker temporarily stops calls to a service that is failing repeatedly. It prevents an AI workflow from adding more pressure to an unhealthy dependency or wasting time on the same error.
For example, after several failed database requests, the breaker can reject new attempts for a short cooling period and then allow one small test. If that test succeeds, normal traffic resumes; if not, the protection stays active and its state remains visible to operators.
What problem does a circuit breaker prevent?
It prevents repeated calls from worsening a dependency failure and consuming unnecessary time, capacity or money.
How does a circuit breaker close again?
After a cooling period it allows limited test calls, then restores normal traffic when the dependency appears healthy.
