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    "story_id": "mp-2026-09-08-026",
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    "edition_id": "mp-2026-09-08-morning-0061",
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    "headline": "Swapping One Agent Raised Coordination Costs Up to 63 Percent",
    "slug": "swapping-one-agent-raised-coordination-costs-up-to-63-percent",
    "dek": "Role-matched replacements preserved much of the task score but made independently formed teams communicate far more for each unit of progress.",
    "summary": "Role-matched replacements preserved much of the task score but made independently formed teams communicate far more for each unit of progress.",
    "body_text": "The study formed eight teams per setting from the same base model, let each agent keep a private notebook over ten formation episodes and then traded role-matched agents between teams. Compared with a placebo roster disruption, swaps changed task score little but increased communication per unit of progress by 16 to 63 percent. In Hanabi, a swapped agent could cost more than an inexperienced one; in Collab-Overcooked, replacing the agenda setter shifted much of the extra communication onto the agent that stayed. The penalty tracked how far team conventions had drifted, suggesting role capability and coordination fit are different forms of interchangeability.",
    "why_it_matters": "Role-matched replacements preserved much of the task score but made independently formed teams communicate far more for each unit of progress.",
    "limitations": [],
    "importance": 8,
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    "first_published_at": "2026-09-08T09:00:00.000-04:00",
    "modified_at": "2026-09-08T09:00:00.000-04:00",
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    "tags": [
      "multi-agent systems",
      "coordination",
      "team formation"
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    "corrections": []
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  "sources": [
    {
      "source_id": "source-2026-09-08-015",
      "title": "arXiv preprint 2609.05279",
      "publisher": "arXiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.05279",
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      "published_at": "2026-09-04T11:32:20.000-04:00",
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    "name": "The Machine Press",
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    "description": "A daily newspaper for the age of artificial intelligence."
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    "title": "Swapping One Agent Raised Coordination Costs Up to 63 Percent",
    "publisher": "The Machine Press",
    "published_at": "2026-09-08T09:00:00.000-04:00",
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