Naming Methods Hurts Agents: Steps Drive Performance

rohanpaul_ai · x · 2026-08-25

Tests on ASI-Bench (60 real projects across 11 fields) show that telling an agent 'which method to use' is ineffective. Comparing 'full procedure', 'method name only', and 'no method', the 'method name only' approach saw average scores drop from 50.91 to 29.10 and cost 59% more tokens. The conclusion: procedure steps drive performance, not method names; naming a method restricts the agent and forces it to rebuild implementation details.

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