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Harness-effectiveness benchmark

Published 2026-09-10T15:28:56Z from results: 6 scored run(s), model claude-sonnet-5 (anthropic), magus v0.4.3-76-g63871b145 (63871b145) built 2026-09-09T22:55:47-04:00, host darwin/arm64/v8.

6 runs, 1 task(s), arms full and rampant, model(s) claude-sonnet-5, bootstrap seed 20260902.

Controls

Whether each task's check can tell a solution from its absence: the golden control applies the known solution and must pass, the null control touches nothing and must fail. A pass rate below is only worth reading where both hold.

task golden (pass/n) null (pass/n) checks discriminate
merge-config-falsy 1/1 0/1 yes

Headline: cost-of-pass

Expected dollars per correct solution (mean dollars / pass rate).

arm n passes pass rate Wilson 95% mean $ median $ cost-of-pass
full 3 3 100% [0.439, 1.000] $0.4441 $0.3996 $0.4441
rampant 3 3 100% [0.439, 1.000] $0.2196 $0.2120 $0.2196

Correctness against median tokens

The cost-accuracy frontier in text: pass rate beside the token spend it cost.

arm task n pass@1 median tokens median tokens (passes only) median $
full merge-config-falsy 3 100% 701714 701714 $0.3996
rampant merge-config-falsy 3 100% 386919 386919 $0.2120

Paired deltas, full minus rampant

Rep i of one arm is paired with rep i of the other. CI is a seeded 10000-sample bootstrap of the mean paired delta; p is Holm-adjusted across tasks. A verdict needs the CI to exclude zero AND the delta to reach 10% of the rampant median.

total billed tokens

task pairs median delta mean delta 95% CI relative p (Holm) verdict
merge-config-falsy 3 236268 355402.3 [200339.0, 629600.0] 92% 0.000 higher under full

dollars

task pairs median delta mean delta 95% CI relative p (Holm) verdict
merge-config-falsy 3 0.1385 0.2245 [0.1382, 0.3968] 106% 0.000 higher under full

wall clock (ms)

task pairs median delta mean delta 95% CI relative p (Holm) verdict
merge-config-falsy 3 35916 39241.7 [21857.0, 59952.0] 147% 0.000 higher under full

turns

task pairs median delta mean delta 95% CI relative p (Holm) verdict
merge-config-falsy 3 3 4.3 [1.0, 9.0] 39% 0.000 higher under full

tool calls

task pairs median delta mean delta 95% CI relative p (Holm) verdict
merge-config-falsy 3 3 4.3 [1.0, 9.0] 43% 0.000 higher under full

file reads

task pairs median delta mean delta 95% CI relative p (Holm) verdict
merge-config-falsy 3 0 -0.3 [-1.0, 0.0] -17% 0.585 inconclusive

re-read rate

task pairs median delta mean delta 95% CI relative p (Holm) verdict
merge-config-falsy 3 0.0000 0.0000 [0.0000, 0.0000] n/a 1.000 inconclusive

tool result bytes

task pairs median delta mean delta 95% CI relative p (Holm) verdict
merge-config-falsy 3 905 1364.3 [756.0, 2432.0] 35% 0.000 higher under full

pass@1 and pass^k

pass@1 is capability; pass^k (all k reps succeed) is reliability.

arm task k pass@1 Wilson 95% pass^k
full merge-config-falsy 3 100% [0.439, 1.000] 1
rampant merge-config-falsy 3 100% [0.439, 1.000] 1

Caveats

  • Reps per cell: full/merge-config-falsy n=3, rampant/merge-config-falsy n=3.
  • Under the 5-rep protocol: full/merge-config-falsy, rampant/merge-config-falsy. Treat those deltas as directional.
  • No activity trail for 3 run(s) (rampant-merge-config-falsy-r1-20260910T121032Z, rampant-merge-config-falsy-r2-20260910T121116Z, rampant-merge-config-falsy-r3-20260910T121152Z); their guard_events are null, not zero.
  • Dollars are the host's billed cost; the pricing table would have said 0.67x that, so the table is wrong for this model and only backs runs with no result record.
generatedbenchmarks/agent/reports/2026-09-10/anthropic/claude-sonnet-5.mdbenchmarksagentsharnessmeasurement
Last updated (0c2c811f)
Glossary

Op

A single tool-native command a target composes (long form: operation); the middle of the work hierarchy (Spell to Op to Target). Op in full.

CI

An ordinary target you compose yourself with ctx.needs; magus does not hardcode its stages. It is the anchor magus affected ci keys off, and ci strips the rw charm. CI in full.

Agent

A model working through an agent host such as Claude Code, Codex, Cursor or OpenCode. magus treats an agent as one more caller of its CLI, MCP tools and console, held to the same checks as a person. Agent in full.

Tool

An action a model can call through its host: a name, a description, a typed input and a result. magus serves its tools over MCP, each a read of the workspace model or a run of the CLI it already has. Tool in full.

Harness

The deterministic scaffolding around the work on a change, for a person or an agent: compiler errors, formatters, linters, checks, gates, leases and hooks, placed at points a person chose. Around an agent's loop, magus supplies one and keeps it outside. Harness in full.

Run

One target executing under one magus invocation, such as magus run test web or magus affected ci. A run keeps its captured output behind an output reference. Every magus run is a run whether or not any job asked for it; see Job for how the two relate. Run in full.

Conventions

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