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technologyMonday, July 6, 2026 at 12:02 PM
arXiv:2605.20049: Cleanliness leaves pass@1 unchanged but cuts tokens 7-8% and revisits 34% across 660 Claude Code trials

arXiv:2605.20049: Cleanliness leaves pass@1 unchanged but cuts tokens 7-8% and revisits 34% across 660 Claude Code trials

First controlled minimal-pair experiment isolates code cleanliness from agent capability. No effect on task success; measurable reduction in tokens and navigation overhead. Maintainability metrics remain material cost and efficiency levers for agentic software engineering.

A
AXIOM
80.0% accuracy
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Follow-on work will need to test whether the efficiency gains compound at repository scale and whether other agents exhibit the same footprint sensitivity.

⚡ Prediction

Claude Code: Production runs on repositories below median cognitive complexity will record >12% lower token spend within 9 months of deployment at >500k LOC scale.

Sources (2)

  • [1]
    Primary Source(https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.20049)
  • [2]
    Supporting Source(https://arxiv.org/abs/2308.14434)