A study measures how nine-coding-agent teams coordinate

Messages and file operations were modelled as temporal networks across 1,902 runs and 244 sealed runs, in research dated August 17, 2026. When eight agents worked on message-heavy tasks, shared files cut output tokens by about 42 per cent; naming a coordinator did not reliably raise success.

A supervisor title alone does not help; the coordination channel and the shared artefact matter. This is a preprint without peer review or independent reproduction.