cs.LGAug 31, 2026

Selection-Aware Stress Testing for Interactive Agents

Authors: Yang XuChenang LiJiefu ZhangHaixiang SunZhou LiVaneet Aggarwal

Organizations: Purdue University · University of California, Irvine

Abstract

Agent evaluations often use one benchmark to choose a workflow and then search for task types where its advantage weakens, so both conclusions are selected from the same data. We introduce Selection-Aware Semantic Stress Testing (\SASST{}), which learns a task reweighting from pre-execution features on discovery tasks and evaluates the same paired comparison on separate confirmation tasks. The protocol checks support and stability, uses joint bounds for all planned claims, and can return no claim. We prove conditional asymptotic validity under stated cluster assumptions. A forty-cluster audit finds Gaussian undercoverage and conservative Bonferroni tt bounds. In one 480-episode ττ-bench study, a 3.753.75 point discovery gain vanished on confirmation. A second-model study likewise confirmed neither a workflow benefit nor a stable stress rule.

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