Published equation contexts
Why this formula appears here
Define C as the agent’s completion claim and V as external task success. Four states follow: . False completion is operationally expensive because it transfers discovery to the reviewer. It can arise from missing tests, misread output, stale state, premature stopping, or incentives in the prompt to present a polished result. A reliable harness should make “blocked,” “partially complete,” and “evidence inconclusive” legitimate terminal states.
Read the representative guide
How to interpret it
Read it with the definitions, units, and assumptions supplied by the article.
Published contexts (1)
A symbol can carry a different meaning in another article. Each occurrence keeps its own guide and term definitions.
Equation 28 · AI Agents & Systems
Why Coding Agents Fail: Long-Horizon Reliability in OpenAI Codex
This equation states an equality: the expressions on both sides have the same value under the article’s assumptions.
Define C as the agent’s completion claim and V as external task success. Four states follow: . False completion is operationally expensive because it transfers discovery to the reviewer. It can arise from missing tests, misread output, stale state, premature stopping, or incentives in the prompt to present a polished result. A reliable harness should make “blocked,” “partially complete,” and “evidence inconclusive” legitimate terminal states.