Methodology & Bibliography — Agent Framework Licenses Compared

How this site is sourced, which canonical primary sources back its claims, and how the data is refreshed.

Data last refreshed: 2026-05-07. Next scheduled refresh: Q3 2026 or sooner on regulator/vendor trigger.

Sourcing rule

Every claim has at least one direct quote from a canonical primary source — vendor docs, standards bodies, regulator publications, peer-reviewed papers, or an analyst publication where the analyst is the primary source for the framing. Wikipedia and secondary blogs are never the primary citation.

Freshness flags

• Foundational — original peer-reviewed papers (e.g., 2020 RAG, 2022 Constitutional AI). Refreshed only if substantively revised.
• In force — current binding regulator text or in-effect specifications, with the in-force date.
• Emerging 2026 — terms that entered mainstream discourse in 2026.
• Contested — entries with named, meaningful disagreement in the field; we carry both positions.

Bibliography

1. Independent comparison surveys — agent frameworks 2026. https://pecollective.com/blog/ai-agent-frameworks-compared/ — accessed 2026-05-07
2. AgentsBooks — agentsbooks.com. https://agentsbooks.com/ — accessed 2026-05-07

Updated 2026-05-07.