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ZENODO
Preprint . 2026
License: CC BY
Data sources: ZENODO
ZENODO
Preprint . 2026
License: CC BY
Data sources: Datacite
ZENODO
Preprint . 2026
License: CC BY
Data sources: Datacite
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Modality Matters: A Transient Behavioral Interruption Rescues Agent WANDERING Where Residual Steering Does Not

Authors: Vicentino, Caio;

Modality Matters: A Transient Behavioral Interruption Rescues Agent WANDERING Where Residual Steering Does Not

Abstract

On the same 20 WANDERING Qwen3.6-27B SWE-bench Pro trajectories where residual steering fails three times, a transient behavioral interruption -- one fresh user turn at a live tool-entropy collapse point -- roughly doubles the rate at which agents finalize (30% -> 70%, paired McNemar p=0.021), while a residual L11 injection stays inert (p=0.63). The lever is the interruption itself, not its content: a content-neutral message rescues as well as a re-plan (p=1.0). SWE-bench Pro Docker evaluation indicates the rescued finalizations are real fixes and suggests the interruption also raises solve-rate (~23% -> 50%, cross-session, p=0.062). For long-horizon agents the predictive signal lives in the residual stream but the causal lever lives in behavior. Completes a four-paper arc (detect -> localize -> residual fails -> behavioral works). Companion to Tool-Entropy Collapse (DOI 10.5281/zenodo.20368601).

Keywords

agent failure modes, mechanistic interpretability, LLM agents, tool-entropy, SWE-bench, activation steering, WANDERING

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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).
BIP!Citations provided by BIP!
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.
BIP!Popularity provided by BIP!
influence
This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Influence provided by BIP!
impulse
This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Impulse provided by BIP!
0
Average
Average
Average
Green