What if an agent breaks?

The Builder who built it fixes it and republishes. You only pay for runs that actually work.

Written By Philippe

Last updated 4 days ago

Who's Responsible

Builders own their agents. That means they're on the hook when something goes wrong.

If...Builder must...
πŸ”§ API changesUpdate the agent
πŸ› Bug appearsPatch it
πŸ“‰ Performance degradesOptimize it

This isn't a "sell and forget" marketplace. Builders have skin in the game because their reputation and revenue depend on their agents working.

Incentive Structure:

Builder fixes agent β†’ Agent works well β†’ More runs β†’ More revenue

Quality = Earnings correlation. The better the agent works, the more the Builder earns.

What Happens When a Run Fails

If an agent fails mid-execution, you don't pay the full price. The system only charges for resources actually consumed, and unused budget is refunded automatically when the run settles (~5 min). See How Billing Works for the full deposit-deduct-refund cycle with examples.

Quality Control

The marketplace tracks performance. Success rates. Run times. Error frequencies. This data is visible.

Quality Signals:

The Builder dashboard tracks every run β€” success rate, run time, error frequency β€” and Producers see these numbers on each agent's listing. There is no marketplace status assigned from a success-rate threshold.

MetricImpact
πŸ“Š Success rateVisible to Producers
⏱️ Run timeVisible to Producers
❌ Error frequencyVisible to Producers
⭐ ReviewsVisible to Producers

Agents that consistently underperform lose Producers. A broken agent's owner can fix it and republish. The platform may manually remove agents that violate policy.

Evolution of the Marketplace:

  1. New agents launch
  2. Tested by users
  3. Performance data emerges
  4. Good agents attract more runs and revenue
  5. Underperforming agents attract fewer runs and revenue
  6. Quality improves (self-cleaning)

Good agents rise. Bad agents disappear. The marketplace self-cleans over time.

Before You Buy

Every agent shows its track record. You can see how many times it's been run, how often it succeeds, and what other Producers think.

Due Diligence Checklist:

CheckWhy
πŸ“Š Check statsSee run count and success rate
⭐ Read reviewsSee what others say
πŸ§ͺ Test runsTry before going heavy
πŸ” Check update historyActive Builders update frequently

Don't buy blind. Check the stats. Read the reviews. Test with a few runs before going heavy.

The Bottom Line

ProtectionHow it works
πŸ”§ Builders fix their own agentsReputation incentives
πŸ’° Failed runs cost almost nothingPay only for completed work
πŸ”§ Broken agents can be fixed and republishedOwner accountability
πŸ“ˆ System favors qualityMarket forces