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ARXIV:2604.04323 · LLM AGENTS · SUBMITTED 07 APR · 20:12 UTC · FRESHNESS UNKNOWN
ARXIV:2604.04323LLM AGENTSSUBMITTED 07 APR · 20:12 UTCFRESHNESS UNKNOWNYujian Liu · Jiabao Ji · Li An · Tommi Jaakkola · Yang Zhang · Shiyu Chang · arXiv
This research benchmarks LLM agent skill usage in realistic settings and proposes refinement strategies to improve performance, with code available.
Opportunity summary
Pain This research benchmarks LLM agent skill usage in realistic settings and proposes refinement strategies to improve performance, with code available.
Evidence 0 refs | 0 sources | 0% coverage
Blocker Evidence unverified
This research benchmarks LLM agent skill usage in realistic settings and proposes refinement strategies to improve performance, with code available. Existing skill benchmarking efforts focus on overly idealized conditions, where LLMs are directly provided…
Agent skills, which are reusable, domain-specific knowledge artifacts, have become a popular mechanism for extending LLM-based agents, yet formally benchmarking skill usage performance remains scarce. Existing skill benchmarking efforts focus on overly idealized conditions,…
ScienceToStartup currently rates this 7.0/10 on the public viability pass. To narrow this gap, we study skill refinement strategies, including query-specific and query-agnostic approaches, and we show that query-specific refinement substantially recovers lost performance…
LLM Agents moved forward this cycle; last verified April 2026. Public score 7.0/10. Implementation evidence is present through a linked repository.
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mobile layout uses overflow-hidden min-w-0 break-wordsOpportunity summary
Score7.0Public score shown from the verified overall while the stale axis breakdown refreshesAnalysis summary
This research benchmarks LLM agent skill usage in realistic settings and proposes refinement strategies to improve performance, with code available.
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Paper Pack
10.48550/arXiv.2604.04323This research benchmarks LLM agent skill usage in realistic settings and proposes refinement strategies to improve performance, with code available.
Abstract
Agent skills, which are reusable, domain-specific knowledge artifacts, have become a popular mechanism for extending LLM-based agents, yet formally benchmarking skill usage performance remains scarce. Existing skill benchmarking efforts focus on overly idealized conditions, where LLMs are directly provided with hand-crafted, narrowly-tailored task-specific skills for each task, whereas in many realistic settings, the LLM agent may have to search for and select relevant skills on its own, and even the closest matching skills may not be well-tailored for the task. In this paper, we conduct the first comprehensive study of skill utility under progressively challenging realistic settings, where agents must retrieve skills from a large collection of 34k real-world skills and may not have access to any hand-curated skills. Our findings reveal that the benefits of skills are fragile: performance gains degrade consistently as settings become more realistic, with pass rates approaching no-skill baselines in the most challenging scenarios. To narrow this gap, we study skill refinement strategies, including query-specific and query-agnostic approaches, and we show that query-specific refinement substantially recovers lost performance when the initial skills are of reasonable relevance and quality. We further demonstrate the generality of retrieval and refinement on Terminal-Bench 2.0, where they improve the pass rate of Claude Opus 4.6 from 57.7% to 65.5%. Our results, consistent across multiple models, highlight both the promise and the current limitations of skills for LLM-based agents. Our code is available at https://github.com/UCSB-NLP-Chang/Skill-Usage.
Source availability
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Extraction status
Derived fallbackRead summaries are estimated from adjacent metadata, not verified extraction rows.
Proof status
unverified0 refs; 0 sources; 0% coverage.
What was readable
Derived fallback: Estimated from adjacent evidence; not verified from source.
Viability
Time to MVP
Commercial
Export
Preparing verified analysis
Dimensions overall score 7.0
PROBLEM
This research benchmarks LLM agent skill usage in realistic settings and proposes refinement strategies to improve performance, with code available. Existing skill benchmarking efforts focus on overly idealized conditions, where LLMs are directly provided with hand-crafted, narr...
METHOD
Agent skills, which are reusable, domain-specific knowledge artifacts, have become a popular mechanism for extending LLM-based agents, yet formally benchmarking skill usage performance remains scarce. Existing skill benchmarking efforts focus on overly idealized conditions, wher...
RESULT
ScienceToStartup currently rates this 7.0/10 on the public viability pass. To narrow this gap, we study skill refinement strategies, including query-specific and query-agnostic approaches, and we show that query-specific refinement substantially recovers lost performance when th...
WHY NOW
LLM Agents moved forward this cycle; last verified April 2026. Public score 7.0/10. Implementation evidence is present through a linked repository.
Abstract-backed public claims while anchored extraction refreshes.
This research benchmarks LLM agent skill usage in realistic settings and proposes refinement strategies to improve performance, with code available. Existing skill benchmarking efforts focus on overly idealized conditions, where LLMs are directly provided with hand-crafted, narrowly-tailored task-specific skills for each task, whereas in many realistic settings, the LLM agent may have to search for and select relevant skills on its own, and even the closest matching skills may not be well-tailored for the task.
Abstract-backed fallback claim; anchored extraction has not materialized a public claim row yet.
partial
Agent skills, which are reusable, domain-specific knowledge artifacts, have become a popular mechanism for extending LLM-based agents, yet formally benchmarking skill usage performance remains scarce. Existing skill benchmarking efforts focus on overly idealized conditions, where LLMs are directly provided with hand-crafted, narrowly-tailored task-specific skills for each task, whereas in many realistic settings, the LLM agent may have to search for and select relevant skills on its own, and even the closest matching skills may not be well-tailored for the task.
Abstract-backed fallback claim; anchored extraction has not materialized a public claim row yet.
partial
ScienceToStartup currently rates this 7.0/10 on the public viability pass. To narrow this gap, we study skill refinement strategies, including query-specific and query-agnostic approaches, and we show that query-specific refinement substantially recovers lost performance when the initial skills are of reasonable relevance and quality. A public repository is linked, so build verification can inspect implementation evidence instead of treating the paper as PDF-only.
Abstract-backed fallback claim; anchored extraction has not materialized a public claim row yet.
partial
LLM Agents moved forward this cycle; last verified April 2026. Public score 7.0/10. Implementation evidence is present through a linked repository.
Abstract-backed fallback claim; anchored extraction has not materialized a public claim row yet.
partial
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Concepts
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Materials
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Competitors
This research benchmarks LLM agent skill usage in realistic settings and proposes refinement strategies to improve performance, with code available.
Segment
LLM Agents
Adoption evidence
Public code linked for build inspection
Commercial read
7.0/10 public viability
Direct
Adjacent
Substitute
Unknown
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CITED BY
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Build Passport
Build passport pending - Proof Lab budget No verified cost estimate / $7.00 cap
status
missing
reason
passport_row_missing
proof status
unverified
cost/budget
No verified cost estimate
confidence low
next verification path
Build brief missing until Build Passport data exists.
Source missing: Build Passport payload.
Experiment plan missing until prototype path is available.
No prototype path attached.
Validation checklist missing until required assets, cost, and regulatory flags are verified.
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Evidence coverage
OpportunityKernel evidence_receipt
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unknown
Verify missing sources before using this as buyer proof. verified:false
Build readiness
BuildPassport EvidenceState
passport absent
unknown
Run Proof Lab or inspect typed missing state. verified:false
Artifact maturity
GitHub and Hugging Face maturity payloads
No public artifact surface observed
unknown
Open source artifacts or mark the gap as missing. verified:false
Technical feasibility
partial
Current read
Runnable path is not fully verified.
Evidence
No Build Passport payload attached.
Gaps
Next test
Run minimal reproduction from the Build Passport prototype path.
Market urgency
missing
Current read
Buyer urgency is not verified from source.
Evidence
0 references, 0 sources, 0% evidence coverage.
Gaps
Next test
Collect buyer interview, deployment evidence, or cited demand signal.
Buyer clarity
missing
Current read
No budget owner is verified for this paper.
Evidence
Build tab has no CRM, procurement, or operator source.
Gaps
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Map target operator, economic buyer, and procurement trigger.
Defensibility
missing
Current read
Defensibility signals are missing.
Evidence
No defensibility receipt attached.
Gaps
Next test
Refresh defensibility bars with source receipts.
Integration burden
missing
Current read
No public implementation surface observed.
Evidence
No GitHub or Hugging Face payload attached.
Gaps
Next test
Write integration checklist from prototype path and target workflow.
Capital intensity
missing
Current read
No observed cost estimate is verified.
Evidence
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Gaps
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Regulatory load
missing
Current read
No regulatory classification is attached.
Evidence
Build Passport ledger does not include regulatory flags.
Gaps
Next test
Classify regulatory flags before commercialization planning.
No named scientific founder assigned.
Paper authors are not treated as operators without consent.
People
No named person assigned.
Gaps
Next verification path
Prototype owner missing.
Build Passport does not name an implementer.
People
No named person assigned.
Gaps
Next verification path
Operator workflow not sourced.
No buyer or workflow interview attached.
People
No named person assigned.
Gaps
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No GTM owner verified.
No CRM or outreach source attached.
People
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Gaps
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Regulatory need unclassified.
No clinical or regulatory source attached.
People
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Gaps
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ARTIFACTS
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DEFENSIBILITY
Defensibility and confidence evidence pending.
WATCHTOWER
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FORESIGHT
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OPPORTUNITYKERNEL CHANGES SINCE LAST VIEW
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TIMELINE
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BUZZ
Buzz trend pending.