Agentic AI Reference Architecture

Safety & Security · Software component

Agent Circuit Breaker

Software componentSafety & SecuritySafety, Security & Governancearc:AgentCircuitBreaker

A protective control that automatically pauses an agent when accumulated errors exceed a threshold and keeps it paused until a human reviews and resumes it.

Responsibility. Halts a failing agent automatically pending human review.

Also known as: Automatic pause on error threshold

monitors; overridesescalates tois configured byAgent Controller: monitors; overridesAgent ControllerHuman Supervisor: escalates toHuman SupervisorCircuit Breaker Policy: is configured byCircuit Breaker Policy
Direct neighbourhood (hover for relationship types)

Relationships

is configured by structural

escalates to dynamic

overrides control

monitors assurance

Classification

Patterns
Circuit breaker
Quality attributes
Safety (ISO/IEC 25010 | NIST AI RMF: safe)Reliability (ISO/IEC 25010 | NIST AI RMF: valid and reliable)
Risks mitigated
Automated responses that worsen conditionsCatastrophic runaway failures

Sources

  1. Ch10.4: T. Nguyen, "Human-in-the-Loop," in Mastering Agentic AI Systems: Guide for the NVIDIA NCP-AAI Exam, 1st ed. 2026, ch. 10.4. ISBN: 9798244538229.