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abstract indexed · arXiv 2610.01618 · updated 2026-10-18

Agents Are Systems, Not Models: Rethinking Agentic Evaluation

First page of Agents Are Systems, Not Models: Rethinking Agentic Evaluation
From the original paper · arXiv 2610.01618Page 1. Select the image to read the PDF.

The paper replaces single success-rate evaluation of a fixed agent with evaluation of the agent as a configurable system, varying task information, reasoning, self-verification, time budget, and backbone model across repeated runs. Adoption costs multiple evaluation runs per configuration (the study used over 18,000 trajectories) plus engineering effort to expose configuration knobs and implement dedicated verification tools rather than relying on prompt instructions. Failures include mistaking run-to-run stochasticity for real improvement when run counts are low, and wasted compute from extending time budgets when the agent lacks sufficient task information or a capable model to use the extra time.

For solo builders

A possible application for this research area. Paper-specific feasibility still needs a full-paper review.

An agent looks good in demos, but you cannot tell which product tasks it fails.

What you would change

Use the study's evaluation idea to inspect a small set of tasks with human-checked answers.

Try the idea on your product

A proposed first test. Set your budget and success criteria before running it.

Use the study's evaluation idea to inspect a small set of tasks with human-checked answers.

Compare against

Your current evaluator and a manually reviewed reference set.

  1. Locate the paper's implementation and check its license, model support, data needs, and hardware requirements. Stop here if you cannot obtain the required artifacts.
  2. Save a small set of representative product tasks and expected outcomes. Keep evaluation tasks out of any training or tuning, and choose quality and cost limits before running.
  3. Run the baseline and the proposed change on identical inputs. Keep other settings fixed and repeat paired runs to expose variation.
  4. Save per-task outputs, failures, timings, and all usage costs. Review regressions before expanding the test.

What to measure

Agreement with human review, missed failures, false alarms, and evaluation cost per task.

When to keep it

Keep the change only if it meets your preselected quality and latency limits and improves the metric you care about after setup and operating costs. Otherwise retain the baseline. This is an exploration plan, not a validated recommendation.

Download test plan ↓

abstract indexedPaperraft next step

Do not allocate compute yet.

This page uses the abstract and public adoption signal only. Request the deep report before relying on its recommendation.

Abstract-level screening only. Risks and infrastructure may not have been evaluated. This recommendation is not a reproduced result.
minimum test setup
not reported
published evidence setup
not reported
source-linked claims
0 of 2
exposure checks
0 of 8

Why it was shortlisted

The technical change, research area, and reason it entered the archive.

recommendation
adopt
research area
agent evaluation
technical change
Agent-as-system configuration evaluation
published
2026-10-01

The findings translate directly into low-cost production practice for a constrained team: invest in task information and tool-based verification, evaluate across repeated runs, and treat configuration as a first-class variable rather than scaling model size or time budget blindly.

About the technical core

Equations have not been fetched yet.

When reading the methods, identify the rule, algorithm, or evaluation protocol that produces the claimed change. An equation is useful here only if it explains that mechanism.

Inspect the original paper

Claims and evidence

A claim is source-linked only when the PDF page and matching excerpt are available.

  1. claim 01Paperraft inference
    Read the brief interpretation

    The paper replaces single success-rate evaluation of a fixed agent with evaluation of the agent as a configurable system, varying task information, reasoning, self-verification, time budget, and backbone model across repeated runs. Adoption costs multiple evaluation runs per configuration (the study used over 18,000 trajectories) plus engineering effort to expose configuration knobs and implement dedicated verification tools rather than relying on prompt instructions. Failures include mistaking run-to-run stochasticity for real improvement when run counts are low, and wasted compute from extending time budgets when the agent lacks sufficient task information or a capable model to use the extra time.

    This is a Paperraft inference. It is not pinned to a verified PDF passage.

    Inspect the source
  2. claim 02Paperraft inference

    Across configurations, task information had the largest effect on performance, exceeding time budget and model size, while also reducing cost and improving calibration; approximately 54% of outcome variance came from repeating the same configuration rather than changing it.

    This is a Paperraft inference. It is not pinned to a verified PDF passage.

    Inspect the source

Exposure map

Author findings, Paperraft interpretations, and the next check. Missing analysis never counts as evidence of safety.

quality

Still unknown

Which tasks improve, and which regress against the baseline?

compute and memory

Still unknown

What memory, hardware, and total compute does the complete method require?

latency

Still unknown

Are startup time, typical response time, and slow requests measured separately?

operations

Still unknown

What must be monitored, maintained, and rolled back?

software compatibility

Still unknown

Does the implementation support your model, runtime, and hardware?

security

Still unknown

What new data access, permissions, or trust boundaries does it introduce?

data and training

Still unknown

What data preparation or training is required, and is it included in the cost?

reproducibility

Still unknown

Are code, versions, inputs, and evaluation scripts available?

Continue the investigation

A reading guide for agent evaluation.

Editorial prompts, not findings from this paper or a validated test plan. Detailed analysis is still pending for the topics below.

What to inspect

Who grades the outputs? Inspect the rubric, disagreements, and whether the evaluator sees the method's identity.

Plan a fair comparison

Can you apply the same tasks and rubric to the baseline and candidate, then review disagreements by hand?

Questions for adoption

Are the results stable across prompts, languages, and task categories relevant to your product?

Read the paper with these questions

Inside the paper

Preview the first 3 pages of the original PDF. Click the stack to turn the page.

The downloadable skill includes SKILL.md and evidence.json, with recorded findings and unanswered checks. TRY-IT.md adds a product test plan and a blank results sheet.

A reading aid for your agent. Findings still need validation.

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Open this page in the PDF ↗

Provisional research brief updated 2026-10-18. Paperraft has not reproduced this experiment.

Discuss this paper

Question a claim, compare interpretations, or share what happened when you tried the method.

Join the conversation on GitHub. Use this paper's arXiv ID in the title when starting a discussion.

arXiv 2610.01618

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