Definition
Plain language
When two parts of a system each wait forever for the other to go first, so nothing ever moves.
As stated in the literature
A concurrency failure where processes or agents are mutually blocked, each holding a resource the other needs; a core safety property checked in TraceFix's TLA+ verification of agent coordination.
Also called: deadlocks, deadlocked
Why it matters: It can freeze an entire system into permanent paralysis, which is why coordinating multiple agents requires checking that this can't happen.
For example, two programs each lock a file the other needs and then sit waiting for each other forever, so neither ever finishes.
Heard on the show
“… And the reason that seven-agent deadlock matters is that the authors don't just describe it — they catch it before deployment, with a tool …”Episode 034 — Catching Multi-Agent Deadlocks Before Deployment With a 40-Year-Old Tool