Coding-agent failures start earlier than the final error

A new arXiv study analyzes thousands of CLI coding-agent trajectories and argues that many failures begin in the first few execution steps, long before the final task result makes the failure obvious. Why it matters: Agent reliability improves when teams inspect the process, not just the final answer. Early checks on assumptions, file edits, commands, and test results can catch drift while recovery is still cheap.

Try this: Add an early gate to coding-agent runs: after the first few tool calls, review touched files, commands, assumptions, and the smallest relevant test before letting the agent continue.