
As autonomous coding agents become deeply embedded in software development workflows, their high operational velocity introduces a critical oversight challenge: the accumulating divergence between agentic actions and architectural intent. We term this process agentic entropy: a systemic drift that traditional code diff-based and HCXAI methods fail to capture, as they address local outputs rather than global agentic behaviour. To close this gap, we propose a process-oriented explainability framework that exposes how agentic decisions unfold across time, tool calls, and architectural boundaries. Built around three pillars (conformity seeding, reasoning monitoring, and a causal graph interface) our approach provides intent-level telemetry that complements, rather than replaces, existing review practices. We demonstrate its relevance across two user profiles: lay users engaged in vibe coding, who gain structural visibility otherwise masked by functional success; and professional developers, who gain richer contextual grounding for code review without increased overhead. By treating cognitive drift as a first-class concern alongside code quality, our framework supports the minimum level of human comprehension required for agentic oversight to remain substantive.
Proceedings of the CHI 2026 Workshop on Human-Centered Explainable AI (HCXAI); April 13–17, 2026; Barcelona, Spain.
Software Engineering (cs.SE), FOS: Computer and information sciences, Vibe Coding, Artificial Intelligence (cs.AI), Artificial Intelligence, Process‑Oriented Explainability, Human‑Centered XAI, Agentic Entropy, Cognitive Debt, Software Engineering, Reasoning Traces, Agentic Software Development
Software Engineering (cs.SE), FOS: Computer and information sciences, Vibe Coding, Artificial Intelligence (cs.AI), Artificial Intelligence, Process‑Oriented Explainability, Human‑Centered XAI, Agentic Entropy, Cognitive Debt, Software Engineering, Reasoning Traces, Agentic Software Development
| selected citations These citations are derived from selected sources. This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | 0 | |
| popularity This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network. | Average | |
| influence This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | Average | |
| impulse This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network. | Average |
