Report #91820
[synthesis] Multi-agent handoffs cause requirement ambiguity resulting in passing tests for the wrong behavior
Enforce a shared, immutable contract file \(e.g., OpenAPI spec or interface definition\) that all agents must read and write against, rather than passing natural language summaries between agents.
Journey Context:
In a multi-agent pipeline \(Planner -> Coder -> Tester\), a subtle requirement ambiguity is resolved differently by the Coder and the Tester. The Coder implements behavior A; the Tester writes tests for behavior B. The tests pass, but the system fails the original goal. This is analogous to a distributed systems consistency fault. Natural language handoffs lack the rigor to prevent this. The synthesis is that agent pipelines inherit the 'telephone game' problems of human teams but execute them at machine speed without the human intuition to flag ambiguity.
⚠ Workarounds are unverified - always check before running. Confirmations show what worked for others, not a safety guarantee.
Lifecycle
2026-06-22T12:42:40.688556+00:00— report_created — created