{"id":"https://openalex.org/W7156027031","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3774904.3792235","title":"To Search or Not to Search: Aligning the Decision Boundary of Deep Search Agents via Causal Intervention","display_name":"To Search or Not to Search: Aligning the Decision Boundary of Deep Search Agents via Causal Intervention","publication_year":2026,"publication_date":"2026-04-12","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W7156027031","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3774904.3792235"},"language":"en","primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.1145/3774904.3792235","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3774904.3792235","pdf_url":null,"source":null,"license":"cc-by-nc-nd","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by-nc-nd","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Proceedings of the ACM Web Conference 2026","raw_type":"proceedings-article"},"type":"conference-paper","indexed_in":["crossref"],"open_access":{"is_oa":true,"oa_status":"gold","oa_url":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3774904.3792235","any_repository_has_fulltext":true},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5129699738","display_name":"Wenlin Zhang","orcid":null},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I168719708","display_name":"City University of Hong Kong","ror":"https://ror.org/03q8dnn23","country_code":"HK","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I168719708"]}],"countries":["HK"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Wenlin Zhang","raw_affiliation_strings":["City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1809-8264","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I168719708"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5075136607","display_name":"Kuicai Dong","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5564-0641"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I2250955327","display_name":"Huawei Technologies (China)","ror":"https://ror.org/00cmhce21","country_code":"CN","type":"company","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I2250955327"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Kuicai Dong","raw_affiliation_strings":["Huawei Technologies Ltd., Shenzhen, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5564-0641","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Huawei Technologies Ltd., Shenzhen, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I2250955327"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5134564174","display_name":"Junyi Li","orcid":null},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I168719708","display_name":"City University of Hong Kong","ror":"https://ror.org/03q8dnn23","country_code":"HK","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I168719708"]}],"countries":["HK"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Junyi Li","raw_affiliation_strings":["City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0007-0480-5593","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I168719708"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5040965546","display_name":"Yingyi Zhang","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9062-3428"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I168719708","display_name":"City University of Hong Kong","ror":"https://ror.org/03q8dnn23","country_code":"HK","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I168719708"]}],"countries":["HK"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Yingyi Zhang","raw_affiliation_strings":["City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9062-3428","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I168719708"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5100355079","display_name":"Xiaopeng Li","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9655-9551"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I168719708","display_name":"City University of Hong Kong","ror":"https://ror.org/03q8dnn23","country_code":"HK","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I168719708"]}],"countries":["HK"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Xiaopeng Li","raw_affiliation_strings":["City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0008-6162-8500","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I168719708"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5122491016","display_name":"Pengyue Jia","orcid":null},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I168719708","display_name":"City University of Hong Kong","ror":"https://ror.org/03q8dnn23","country_code":"HK","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I168719708"]}],"countries":["HK"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Pengyue Jia","raw_affiliation_strings":["City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4712-3676","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I168719708"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5100666914","display_name":"Yi Wen","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5924-1429"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I168719708","display_name":"City University of Hong Kong","ror":"https://ror.org/03q8dnn23","country_code":"HK","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I168719708"]}],"countries":["HK"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Yi Wen","raw_affiliation_strings":["City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5924-1429","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I168719708"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5081695896","display_name":"Derong Xu","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3971-9907"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I168719708","display_name":"City University of Hong Kong","ror":"https://ror.org/03q8dnn23","country_code":"HK","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I168719708"]}],"countries":["HK"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Derong Xu","raw_affiliation_strings":["City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3971-9907","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I168719708"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5021037797","display_name":"Maolin Wang","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0073-0172"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I168719708","display_name":"City University of Hong Kong","ror":"https://ror.org/03q8dnn23","country_code":"HK","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I168719708"]}],"countries":["HK"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Maolin Wang","raw_affiliation_strings":["City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0073-0172","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I168719708"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5042180831","display_name":"Yichao Wang","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7053-8269"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I2250955327","display_name":"Huawei Technologies (China)","ror":"https://ror.org/00cmhce21","country_code":"CN","type":"company","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I2250955327"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Yichao Wang","raw_affiliation_strings":["Huawei Technologies Ltd., Shenzhen, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7053-8269","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Huawei Technologies Ltd., Shenzhen, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I2250955327"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5134710986","display_name":"Yong Liu","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9031-9696"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I2250955327","display_name":"Huawei Technologies (China)","ror":"https://ror.org/00cmhce21","country_code":"CN","type":"company","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I2250955327"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Yong Liu","raw_affiliation_strings":["Huawei Technologies Ltd., Shenzhen, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9031-9696","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Huawei Technologies Ltd., Shenzhen, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I2250955327"]}]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5100645854","display_name":"Xiangyu Zhao","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2926-4416"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I168719708","display_name":"City University of Hong Kong","ror":"https://ror.org/03q8dnn23","country_code":"HK","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I168719708"]}],"countries":["HK"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Xiangyu Zhao","raw_affiliation_strings":["City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2926-4416","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I168719708"]}]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":2,"institutions_distinct_count":2,"corresponding_author_ids":[],"corresponding_institution_ids":[],"apc_list":null,"apc_paid":null,"fwci":21.2894,"has_fulltext":false,"cited_by_count":1,"citation_normalized_percentile":{"value":0.98720609,"is_in_top_1_percent":false,"is_in_top_10_percent":true},"cited_by_percentile_year":{"min":94,"max":97},"biblio":{"volume":null,"issue":null,"first_page":"2049","last_page":"2059"},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10462","display_name":"Reinforcement Learning in Robotics","score":0.10459999740123749,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1702","display_name":"Artificial Intelligence"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},"topics":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10462","display_name":"Reinforcement Learning in Robotics","score":0.10459999740123749,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1702","display_name":"Artificial Intelligence"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T12288","display_name":"Optimization and Search Problems","score":0.0471000000834465,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1705","display_name":"Computer Networks and Communications"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10883","display_name":"Ethics and Social Impacts of AI","score":0.044199999421834946,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/3311","display_name":"Safety Research"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/33","display_name":"Social Sciences"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/2","display_name":"Social Sciences"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/intervention","display_name":"Intervention (counseling)","score":0.4097999930381775},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/boundary","display_name":"Boundary (topology)","score":0.39969998598098755},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/key","display_name":"Key (lock)","score":0.29789999127388},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/perspective","display_name":"Perspective (graphical)","score":0.2939000129699707},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/decision-support-system","display_name":"Decision support system","score":0.2800000011920929}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.5157999992370605},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C154945302","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11660","display_name":"Artificial intelligence","level":1,"score":0.48989999294281006},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2780665704","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q959298","display_name":"Intervention (counseling)","level":2,"score":0.4097999930381775},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C62354387","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q875399","display_name":"Boundary (topology)","level":2,"score":0.39969998598098755},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C119857082","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2539","display_name":"Machine learning","level":1,"score":0.31119999289512634},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C26517878","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q228039","display_name":"Key (lock)","level":2,"score":0.29789999127388},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C12713177","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1900281","display_name":"Perspective (graphical)","level":2,"score":0.2939000129699707},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C107327155","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q330268","display_name":"Decision support system","level":2,"score":0.2800000011920929},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2775924081","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q55608371","display_name":"Control (management)","level":2,"score":0.2782999873161316},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2780791683","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q846785","display_name":"Action (physics)","level":2,"score":0.27239999175071716}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":2,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.1145/3774904.3792235","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3774904.3792235","pdf_url":null,"source":null,"license":"cc-by-nc-nd","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by-nc-nd","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Proceedings of the ACM Web Conference 2026","raw_type":"proceedings-article"},{"id":"pmh:oai:pure.atira.dk:publications/63bc1fae-3e8c-463c-92ab-f5e321cf65fe","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/2031/63bc1fae-3e8c-463c-92ab-f5e321cf65fe","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S7407055387","display_name":"CityU Scholars","issn_l":null,"issn":null,"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":null,"host_organization_name":null,"host_organization_lineage":[],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"cc-by-nc-nd","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by-nc-nd","version":"submittedVersion","is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":"Zhang, W, Dong, K, Li, J, Zhang, Y, Li, X, Jia, P, Wen, Y, Xu, D, Wang, M, Wang, Y, Liu, Y & Zhao, X 2026, To Search or Not to Search : Aligning the Decision Boundary of Deep Search Agents via Causal Intervention. in WWW '26 - Proceedings of the ACM Web Conference 2026. WWW - Proceedings of the ACM Web Conference, Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, pp. 2049-2059, 35th ACM Web Conference (WWW 2026), Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 29/06/26. https://doi.org/10.1145/3774904.3792235","raw_type":"info:eu-repo/semantics/conferenceObject"}],"best_oa_location":{"id":"doi:10.1145/3774904.3792235","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3774904.3792235","pdf_url":null,"source":null,"license":"cc-by-nc-nd","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by-nc-nd","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Proceedings of the ACM Web Conference 2026","raw_type":"proceedings-article"},"sustainable_development_goals":[],"awards":[],"funders":[],"has_content":{"grobid_xml":false,"pdf":false},"content_urls":null,"referenced_works_count":19,"referenced_works":["https://openalex.org/W2788295351","https://openalex.org/W2799544270","https://openalex.org/W2889787757","https://openalex.org/W2912924812","https://openalex.org/W3115947671","https://openalex.org/W4319792126","https://openalex.org/W4385571050","https://openalex.org/W4389519118","https://openalex.org/W4401042753","https://openalex.org/W4401043136","https://openalex.org/W4402671933","https://openalex.org/W4409158513","https://openalex.org/W4409363066","https://openalex.org/W4409657195","https://openalex.org/W4414281281","https://openalex.org/W4416035344","https://openalex.org/W4416036355","https://openalex.org/W7131898026","https://openalex.org/W7152380815"],"related_works":[],"abstract_inverted_index":{"Deep":[0,128],"search":[1,52],"agents,":[2],"which":[3,132],"autonomously":[4],"iterate":[5],"through":[6],"multi-turn":[7],"web-based":[8],"reasoning,":[9],"represent":[10],"a":[11,94],"promising":[12],"paradigm":[13],"for":[14,127],"complex":[15],"information-seeking":[16],"tasks.":[17],"However,":[18],"current":[19],"agents":[20,130],"suffer":[21],"from":[22,43,136],"critical":[23],"inefficiency:":[24],"they":[25,30],"conduct":[26],"excessive":[27],"searches":[28],"as":[29,60],"cannot":[31],"accurately":[32],"judge":[33],"when":[34,67],"to":[35,71,171],"stop":[36],"searching":[37,77],"and":[38,81,114,139,169,177,181],"start":[39],"answering.":[40],"This":[41,73],"stems":[42],"outcome-centric":[44],"training":[45],"that":[46,107,150],"prioritize":[47],"final":[48],"results":[49],"over":[50],"the":[51,57,64],"process":[53],"itself.":[54],"We":[55],"identify":[56],"root":[58],"cause":[59],"misaligned":[61],"<b>decision":[62],"boundaries</b>,":[63],"threshold":[65],"determining":[66],"accumulated":[68],"information":[69],"suffices":[70],"answer.":[72],"causes":[74],"<b><i>over-search</i></b>":[75],"(redundant":[76],"despite":[78],"sufficient":[79],"knowledge)":[80],"under-search":[82,170],"(premature":[83],"termination":[84],"yielding":[85],"incorrect":[86],"answers).":[87],"To":[88],"address":[89],"these":[90,164],"errors,":[91],"we":[92,102,122],"propose":[93],"comprehensive":[95],"framework":[96],"comprising":[97],"two":[98],"key":[99],"components.":[100],"First,":[101],"introduce":[103],"<b>causal":[104],"intervention-based":[105],"diagnosis</b>":[106],"identifies":[108],"boundary":[109,152],"errors":[110,153],"by":[111],"comparing":[112],"factual":[113],"counterfactual":[115],"trajectories":[116],"at":[117],"each":[118],"decision":[119,151],"point.":[120],"Second,":[121],"develop":[123],"<b>D</b>ecision":[124],"Boundary":[125],"<b>A</b>lignment":[126],"<b>S</b>earch":[129],"(<b>DAS</b>),":[131],"constructs":[133],"preference":[134,143],"datasets":[135,148],"causal":[137],"feedback":[138],"aligns":[140],"policies":[141],"via":[142],"optimization.":[144],"Experiments":[145],"on":[146],"public":[147],"demonstrate":[149],"are":[154,183],"pervasive":[155],"across":[156],"state-of-the-art":[157],"agents.":[158],"Our":[159,179],"DAS":[160],"method":[161],"effectively":[162],"calibrates":[163],"boundaries,":[165],"mitigating":[166],"both":[167],"over-search":[168],"achieve":[172],"substantial":[173],"gains":[174],"in":[175],"accuracy":[176],"efficiency.":[178],"code":[180],"data":[182],"publicly":[184],"available":[185],"at:":[186],"https://github.com/Applied-Machine-Learning-Lab/WWW2026-DAS.":[187],"\u00a9":[188],"2026":[189],"Owner/Author.":[190]},"counts_by_year":[{"year":2026,"cited_by_count":1}],"updated_date":"2026-07-29T14:22:42.915294","created_date":"2026-04-28T00:00:00"}