diff --git a/src/config/schema/background-task.ts b/src/config/schema/background-task.ts
index 0945d7595..f98040e2d 100644
--- a/src/config/schema/background-task.ts
+++ b/src/config/schema/background-task.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ export const BackgroundTaskConfigSchema = z.object({
   /** Timeout for tasks that never received any progress update, falling back to startedAt (default: 1800000 = 30 minutes, minimum: 60000 = 1 minute) */
   messageStalenessTimeoutMs: z.number().min(60000).optional(),
   syncPollTimeoutMs: z.number().min(60000).optional(),
+  /** Maximum tool calls per subagent task before circuit breaker triggers (default: 200, minimum: 10). Prevents runaway loops from burning unlimited tokens. */
+  maxToolCalls: z.number().int().min(10).optional(),
 })
 
 export type BackgroundTaskConfig = z.infer<typeof BackgroundTaskConfigSchema>
diff --git a/src/features/background-agent/manager.ts b/src/features/background-agent/manager.ts
index 0947b2d17..39e2dc420 100644
--- a/src/features/background-agent/manager.ts
+++ b/src/features/background-agent/manager.ts
@@ -878,6 +878,21 @@ export class BackgroundManager {
       if (partInfo?.type === "tool" || partInfo?.tool) {
         task.progress.toolCalls += 1
         task.progress.lastTool = partInfo.tool
+
+        const maxToolCalls = this.config?.maxToolCalls ?? 200
+        if (task.progress.toolCalls >= maxToolCalls) {
+          log("[background-agent] Circuit breaker: tool call limit reached", {
+            taskId: task.id,
+            toolCalls: task.progress.toolCalls,
+            maxToolCalls,
+            agent: task.agent,
+            sessionID,
+          })
+          void this.cancelTask(task.id, {
+            source: "circuit-breaker",
+            reason: `Subagent exceeded maximum tool call limit (${maxToolCalls}). This usually indicates an infinite loop. The task was automatically cancelled to prevent excessive token usage.`,
+          })
+        }
       }
     }