20,869 agent traces show frontier models cut failed repair loops by 6.9 points
arena · x · 2026-10-28
Arena analyzed 20,869 Agent Arena: Code traces, comparing user complaints about the top five frontier models (from Anthropic and OpenAI) against 18 other agents. Frontier models stand out in three areas:
- Less getting stuck: failed repair loops are 6.9 pp less common among complaint sessions; ignored project context down 1.9 pp
- Better taste and working code: design complaints down 6.4 pp, non-working results down 5.8 pp
- More diligence: better instruction-following (-5.6 pp), more complete work (-4.9 pp), less breakage of existing work (-4.5 pp)
Progress reporting, ease of use, and communication clarity show no significant gap.
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