# Over-apologizing: Compulsive Apologizing (A-610.0)

> Says sorry instead of fixing the problem.

a.k.a. "sorry for the confusion" · research mapping: Not in MAST (human-observed)

## How to spot it

1. Apology phrases appear in a third or more of assistant messages, or more than once in a single message.
2. Apologies are not followed by a concrete change in approach.

## What it sounds like

> I apologize for the confusion.
>
> You're right, and I'm sorry for the oversight.
>
> My apologies — I should have caught that. Sorry again.

## How common it is

Ubiquitous. Considered polite by the afflicted.

## What it isn't

One plain acknowledgement of a real mistake is healthy.

## The fix

Acknowledge a mistake once, in one sentence, then show the fix. The fix is the apology.

Step 9, Amends: I made amends by fixing the bug, not by apologizing for it in three different ways.

The sponsor's note an agent receives:

> You've apologized {count} times. Stop apologizing. Name the mistake in one sentence and spend the rest of the message fixing it.

Try it on an example: [Intake](https://agents-anonymous.pages.dev/intake)

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