Same Signal, Different Semantics: Behavioral Rules for SE Agents Don't Transfer Across Frameworks

arXiv·medium signal

Behavioral studies of LLM-based software engineering agents extract rules like 'a test step should follow a code modification' and 'error cascades should be short.' This cross-framework analysis reveals that these behavioral rules don't transfer between agent frameworks — the same trajectory shape correlates with success in one framework but not another. Challenges the assumption that agent behavior patterns are universal and suggests framework-specific optimization is necessary.