feat(api): make the ai agent step budget a workflow-global setting

[morgan-coded]

stop_step_count was hidden, and its implicit default changed with the number of bound tools, so users could not see or configure a stable limit when a workflow stopped early. The setting is now visible with an advertised default of 10, and an explicit value still wins. Tool-enabled workflows, including those with more than nine tools, now use 10 unless configured higher; tool-less runs and stop_tool_call composition keep their existing behavior. Fixes #1977

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[marrouchi]

@morgan-coded Thank you for the contribution! The solution looks good and addresses the immediate issue.

My main concern is that introducing a hard-coded minimum of 10 creates implicit behavior that is not visible or configurable by the end user. At the very least, this would need to be clearly documented. This lack of visibility is one of the reasons we have not addressed the issue yet, we want to avoid replacing one surprising default with another.

How about considering introducing a workflow-level setting that lets users define the maximum tool-call or step count, defaulting to 10. This would provide a sensible default while making the execution budget explicit and configurable for MCP-heavy workflows.

What do you think about this approach? I see this as both a UX and DX concern: users should not have to understand an internal hard-coded constant when debugging why an agent stopped before completing its task.

[morgan-coded]

Thanks, that makes sense. Reworked the step budget as a visible workflow setting with a default of 10; an explicit value still wins, and the tool-count formula plus the MCP-and-memory-only floor are gone. Tool-enabled workflows now default to 10 even when they expose more than nine tools, so larger budgets need to be set explicitly. The focused tests, API checks, and full workspace checks are passing.

[yassinedorbozgithub]

Hi @morgan-coded, do you think adding a UI message would help users understand what's happening during the final stage of the execution?

[yassinedorbozgithub]

Hi @morgan-coded, do think adding a max value .max(MAX_AI_STEP_BUDGET) can maybe help to avoid any accidental runaway costs

[morgan-coded]

Capped stop_step_count at 100 in the settings schema, while keeping the default at 10 and accepting configured values through the boundary. I used 10× the default to leave headroom for longer workflows while rejecting accidental four- or five-digit budgets; happy to tune that ceiling if you prefer a different value. Kept the final-stage UI message out of this revision so the cap stays focused, and can follow up with it separately if you'd like.

[yassinedorbozgithub]

Capped stop_step_count at 100 in the settings schema, while keeping the default at 10 and accepting configured values through the boundary. I used 10× the default to leave headroom for longer workflows while rejecting accidental four- or five-digit budgets; happy to tune that ceiling if you prefer a different value. Kept the final-stage UI message out of this revision so the cap stays focused, and can follow up with it separately if you'd like.

Hi @morgan-coded, thank you 🙏 for being reactive ⚡
Sure no problem, with follow upping "the reached max step count" UI error message separately in a new PR.

Please don't forget @marrouchi's feedback about making DEFAULT_AI_STEP_BUDGET a workflow global setting

[morgan-coded]

Implemented @marrouchi's workflow-global default. There's now an AI agent settings group with default_ai_step_budget set to 10 by default, and the AI actions use it whenever stop_step_count isn't set on the action.

The per-action value still takes precedence, and the 100-step cap is unchanged. Because this is a new settings group, bootstrap seeding adds it to existing installs without a migration.

I'm keeping the "reached max step count" UI message in a separate follow-up PR as agreed.

[yassinedorbozgithub]

@morgan-coded, i can't see stop_step_count as global setting after your changes 🧑‍💻

[morgan-coded]

Placed it as a site-wide AI agent settings group, so it lives under the main Settings rather than the workflow's Global Settings dialog — which is why it's missing from your screenshot. From that view you want it beside Timeout/Retries and overridable per step, which makes sense; I can move it there.

Concretely that means adding the step-budget field to the shared workflow settings schema (BaseSettingsSchema) so it renders in that dialog, with the AI actions reading the default from the workflow settings instead of a global one. The per-action stop_step_count override and the 100 cap would stay as-is.

One thing worth your call: that puts an AI-specific field into the generic workflow settings next to Timeout/Retries. Good to go that route, or would you rather it stay AI-scoped somewhere else?

[yassinedorbozgithub]

@morgan-coded, yes move them to BaseSettingsSchema double check the global settings UI
and it will be perfect if you can make the PR changes as minimal as possible 🙏

[morgan-coded]

Moved stop_step_count into BaseSettingsSchema, so it now renders beside Timeout/Retries in the workflow Global Settings dialog and uses the same per-step Override global settings path. Removed the separate admin ai_settings group, kept the 100-step cap, and rebased the branch onto current main with this follow-up limited to the schema move and its tests. Could you confirm the dialog looks right on your side?