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The Regression Tax: Decomposing Why Skills Help and Hurt LLM Agents

First seen · 7/25/2026, 01:50 AMLatest activity · 7/25/2026, 01:50 AM

Across nearly 6,000 runs covering two office automation benchmarks and three model harness stacks, this study shows that average task-success gains conceal a substantial regression cost. A regression is a task solved without a skill but failed after the skill is added, while a residual failure fails in both conditions. The authors identify skill-description osmosis, grounding displacement, and verification displacement as major regression causes. Their analysis suggests that reliable agent skills depend more on grounding and verification than on procedural instructions alone.

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  1. AggregatorarXiv7/25, 01:50 AMnot independentRepresentative
    The Regression Tax: Decomposing Why Skills Help and Hurt LLM Agents