TimeAperture: Density-Aware Visual Analytics for Comprehensive Characterization of Agentic Control Breakdown

Abstract

We present TimeAperture, a visual analytics system for VAST Challenge 2026 Mini-Challenge 1 (MC1). It analyzes 912 messages from 23 daily-to-hourly rounds with minute-level timestamps through a density-aware temporal frame and linked views. The study finds a Legal-led, cross-role path from preparation to disclosure, migration into Side Huddle and public channels, and recurring warnings that received local responses before release actions concentrated in the final pre-lift round. TimeAperture links these findings to message-level records and separates source-supported relations from temporal succession.