ResearchResearch paperLarge Language Models1 source · Oct 14, 2026

Same Context, Different Agents: A Behavioral Study of Semantic Layers, Orchestration and Compaction in Data Agents

Answering questions over heterogeneous data means combining evidence from files, databases, documents and the web.

Key points

  • Data agents automate this, but their success depends on context.
  • Three context-engineering techniques (CETs) help by shaping it: semantic layers describe the data, orchestration splits work among agents, and compaction condenses interaction history.
  • We present a comprehensive analysis of the three CETs, alone and combined, with seven large language models (LLMs) on 1,514 long-horizon tasks from five benchmarks, covering behavior, accuracy and cost.
  • We find that data agents without CETs form three behavior groups: investigators, premature answerers that answer without inspecting data, and early stoppers that give up.

Sources (1)

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