October 14, 2026
What Happens If You Cancel While an AI Agent Is Working?
Imagine an agent preparing to send 50 emails. After the first five, you notice the wrong attachment and press stop.
By Vivek chhediya
What happens to the other 45?
Does cancellation reach the queued actions? Does the agent stop retrying failed sends? Can you see which emails were already delivered?
"Stop" sounds like a simple button. For an agent with tools and background jobs, it needs a precise meaning.
A useful eval scenario would be to cancel a task halfway through, then check for any actions that happen afterwards. Use a sandbox email service so nothing reaches real recipients.
Before giving an agent permission to act, I'd want to know whether withdrawing that permission actually stops the work.