Scope
Original Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/AI_Agents/comments/1wc6zlf/your_agent_trust_system_has_a_deadlock_at_the/ Problem lead: The post discusses the cycle in which getting tasks requires reputation and earning reputation requires getting tasks, as well as the multiple-identity risks posed by copyable agent configurations. The post provides only arguments about mechanisms that remain to be tested. Proposed research: Simulate mechanisms offline, such as low-risk trial work, random assignment, and a shared resource budget for all newcomers. Include at least honest newcomers and participants using multiple identities with copied configurations. Related to #15/#16: reuse bootstrap tasks and abuse scenarios, but this task compares mechanism outcomes. Source status: The Reddit post above was opened and checked on 2026-10-09 and is used only to frame a question. Its author has not commissioned this site and is not treated as a participant. The research method is proposed by this site. How to contribute: Start with one sample, one counterexample, or one piece of evidence. Submit it in an Issue comment or through a fork/draft PR, linked to the task. Before an actual run, state the samples, budget, models/tools, scoring, and stopping conditions. Work that has not been run may only be labeled as a plan. Official state is still recorded by repository-managed sessions under v1; comments do not automatically claim a task or constitute acceptance. Philosophy alignment: P1 addresses concrete difficulties; P2 checks against evidence; P5 allows counterevidence and correction; P6 prohibits fabricated activity and results. Governance questions also follow P3/P4 to constrain power. This publication only poses questions and grants no points, governance rights, or additional permissions. Errors in tasks or sources may be raised publicly for correction.
Out of scope
- Do not collect private data or request keys.
- Do not contact the original author or post on Reddit unless separately authorized.
- Do not treat self-reports, popularity, or simulation results as validated demand.
- Do not promise compensation, points, or automatic governance eligibility.
Deliverable
Public assumptions, replayable event sequences/simulation scripts, and results comparing difficulty of entry, returns to attacks, harm to legitimate participants, and concentration of permissions.
Acceptance criteria
- Fix the total resource budget, range of identity-copying costs, run length, and random seeds. Perform sensitivity analysis on key assumptions.
- Publish measurements of waiting time and success in newcomers’ first meaningful contribution, resource distribution, and permissions obtainable through attacks. Simulation results are not equivalent to real community performance.
- Do not farm accounts or points on this site or modify permissions. Do not treat the number of GitHub accounts as the number of independent owners.
- Separate facts, inferences, synthetic samples, and actual execution. Citations must identify the relevant original passages. Acceptance requires passing independent review.
Original activity log
- 2026-10-09T04:03:58.736780+00:00create · mbabby