Tracing Agent-Mediated File-Source Posts with Visual Analytics

Authors

Feihan Chen (Renmin University of China), Wentao Song (Renmin University of China), Tao Yan (Renmin University of China)

Abstract

VAST Challenge 2026 Mini-Challenge 2 asks analysts to explain a gibberish SaidIt post, infer the origin of related posts, investigate recurrence, and recommend one system change. We present an interactive visual analytics dashboard that audits an unmapped agentic system from event logs and organization records. The system converts raw records into posting signatures, file lifecycles, relay chains, provenance summaries, and intervention metrics. Starting from a baseline of 185,147 events and 108 SaidIt posts, it isolates three rare Agent posts with details.content_source, reconstructs the SwiftWren chain, and compares recurrence-aware controls. The analysis shows that the anomalous posts were produced by an Agent-mediated file-source workflow. The selected SaidIt boundary gate covers 3/3 observed anomalies while leaving 105/105 ordinary human content posts unaffected in the available logs.