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Agents2026-08-15 · source-backed
A differential-analysis study attributed 125 functional failures and 182 efficiency regressions to specific loaded skills, with 67 traced to excessive verification loops and 30 to heavy implementation pipelines. arXiv 2608.11888 The failure mode isn't malicious skills, it's plausible ones. A skill that looks on-topic makes the agent build the wrong thing, and turns optional guidance into mandatory procedure. A/B every skill against a no-skill baseline on both success rate and token cost.
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Shared entity: Relevant / Same source domain / Shared topic / Earlier coverage
Both cover Relevant; reported by the same outlet (arxiv.org); overlapping topics (agent, cost).
Same source domain / Shared topic / Tension
Reported by the same outlet (arxiv.org); overlapping topics (against, agent, baseline); pushes against this story (against).
Same source domain / Shared topic / Downstream implication
Reported by the same outlet (arxiv.org); overlapping topics (against, baseline, skill); traces where this leads (downstream).
Same source domain / Shared topic / Tension
Reported by the same outlet (arxiv.org); overlapping topics (against, agent, failure); pushes against this story (but).
Reported by the same outlet (arxiv.org); overlapping topics (against, agent, baseline); pushes against this story (against).
Reported by the same outlet (arxiv.org); overlapping topics (against, agent, skill); pushes against this story (against).
Reported by the same outlet (arxiv.org); overlapping topics (agent, failure, skill); pushes against this story (against).
Reported by the same outlet (arxiv.org); overlapping topics (against, agent, verification); pushes against this story (against).