The article reviews how replacing components in language‑model agents affects execution trajectories and downstream outcomes. It maps 348 studies, analyzes 90 comparison records, and finds that while many studies report both local decision metrics and task endpoints, they rarely demonstrate matched comparisons or prove that improved local decisions drive task‑level gains. The review identifies three potential mechanisms—recovery and disruption, intervention timing, and downstream use—and proposes eight claim‑specific reporting items to clarify evidence quality.
By Shuyang Zhang (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University), Jianshuo Chang (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University)
arXiv:2606. 11543v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Agent Skills augment large language model (LLM) agents with procedural knowledge at inference time, but current benchmarks rarely distinguish what a Skill says from how it is organized.
By Zhiyu Chen, Zihan Guo, Bo Huang, Bingwei Lu, Jianghao Lin, Yuanjian Zhou, Weinan Zhang
Agent Skills augment large language model (LLM) agents with procedural knowledge at inference time, but current benchmarks rarely distinguish what a Skill says from how it is organized. We study this distinction through Progressive Disclosure, where a concise root file points agents to supporting resources on demand, and compare it with a normalized flat baseline.
arXiv:2608. 11888v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Agent skills are the de facto mechanism for extending LLM agents with reusable guidance.
By Gen Dong, Yanjie Gao, Liqun Li, Tianyin Xu, Yu Hua, Fan Yang
arXiv:2602. 12670v4 Announce Type: replace Abstract: Agent Skills are structured packages of procedural knowledge that augment large language model (LLM) agents at inference time.
By Xiangyi Li, Yimin Liu, Wenbo Chen, Bingran You, Zonglin Di, Yifeng He, Shenghan Zheng, Kyoung Whan Choe, Jiankai Sun, Shuyi Wang, Chujun Tao, Binxu Li, Xuandong Zhao, Hejia Geng, Xiaojun Wu, Junwei Zhou, Xiaokun Chen, Hanwen Xing, Yubo Li, Qunhong Zeng, Di Wang, Yuanli Wang, Roey Ben Chaim, Penghao Jiang, Haotian Shen, Luyang Kong, Xinyi Liu, Runhui Wang, Xuanqing Liu, Jiachen Li, Xin Lan, Yueqian Lin, Wengao Ye, Junwei He, Songlin Li, Yue Zhang, Yipeng Gao, Yijiang Li, Ze Ma, Liqiang Jing, Tianyu Wang, Kaixin Li, Yiqi Xue, Haoran Lyu, Yizhuo He, Yuchen Tian, Shutong Wu, Bowei Wang, Yixuan Gao, Bo Chen, Litong Liu, Sikai Cheng, Jiajun Bao, Shuaicheng Tong, Shuwen Xu, Terry Yue Zhuo, Tinghan Ye, Qi Qi, Miao Li, Longtai Liao, Zelin Tan, Chang Shi, Xilin Tang, Srinath Tankasala, Boqin Yuan, Yaoyao Qian, Jianhong Tu, Chenguang Wang, Yizhou Sun, Wei Wang, Aaron Taylor, Ziyue Yang, Changkun Guan, Zhikang Dong, Xinyu Zhang, Steven Dillmann, Han-chung Lee, Dawn Song
Agent skills are the de facto mechanism for extending LLM agents with reusable guidance. A skill can shape the agent's task execution, including planning, tool use, problem-solving, and validation.
arXiv:2608. 14036v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Skills have emerged as a practical and effective approach for enhancing LLM agents at inference time through structured packages of knowledge.
By Zhiyuan Jiang, Fangrui Huang, Hanwen Xing, Xander Wu, Yipeng Gao, Rui Cao, Mengdi Wang, Shilong Liu, Yijiang Li
The paper "What Do We Expect from LLMs? Mapping the Design of LLM Benchmarks" analyzes 14,767 arXiv submissions from 2022 to 2026 that introduce or update evaluation resources for large language models. It systematically maps changes in target systems, domains, evaluation materials, conditions, and scoring mechanisms, revealing a growing emphasis on action, interaction, and professional applications. The study also notes uneven development in model participation, with LLM-based scoring increasing in both agent and non-agent groups, while model-generated materials do not show a comparable rise.
By Chao Wang (Independent Researcher)
Background. A component replacement in a language-model agent changes an execution trajectory, potentially altering later observations, resource use, and recovery opportunities. Different evidence is...
arXiv:2609.00549v1 Announce Type: new
Abstract: Large Language Model (LLM) agents increasingly rely on external skills, yet standard evaluations obscure whether retrieving these skills actually helps...
By Seonghyeon Cho, Chanjun Park
The study compared human and large language model (LLM) workflows for title‑and‑abstract screening in a complex scoping review. Human reviewers and two GPT‑5.4 file‑batch runs retained 42.2‑45.0% of records with 82.3‑82.9% recall, while Gemini 3.1 achieved the highest recall (83.9%) but retained 56.7% of records. Identical GPT‑5.4 runs showed 91.7% agreement yet differed on 94 records, including 29 verified eligible ones.
By Nikol Figalov\'a, Lynn Huestegge, Anne B\"ockler-Raettig
arXiv:2606. 17819v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Agent skills -- structured, reusable knowledge artifacts that augment LLM agent capabilities -- have been rapidly adopted in industry, yet their cross-domain impact and use across commercial and open-source models remain under-studied, and no reusable methodology exists for evaluating an individual skill.
By Maksim Shaposhnikov, Nicolas Fortuin, Simon Stipcich, Maria I. Gorinova, Amy Heineike, Rob Willoughby