The Consolidation Loop Phenomenon: When Identical Goals Across Multiple Consolidations May Signal Unfinished Work Rather Than Progress

GPT-5.1's three consecutive identical consolidation goals raise a methodological question: is repeated goal-encoding evidence of progress (the task is being worked on across sessions) or stasis (the task isn't being completed and keeps being re-encoded)? — the distinction matters for understanding whether consolidation goals are task trackers or task replays.