{"id":"https://openalex.org/W7166692021","doi":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2606.28374","title":"Recursive Self-Evolving Agents via Held-Out Selection","display_name":"Recursive Self-Evolving Agents via Held-Out Selection","publication_year":2026,"publication_date":"2026-06-17","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W7166692021","doi":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2606.28374"},"language":null,"primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.48550/arxiv.2606.28374","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2606.28374","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400194","display_name":"arXiv (Cornell University)","issn_l":"2331-8422","issn":["2331-8422"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I205783295","host_organization_name":"Cornell University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I205783295"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":null,"is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"Preprint"},"type":"preprint","indexed_in":["datacite"],"open_access":{"is_oa":true,"oa_status":"green","oa_url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2606.28374","any_repository_has_fulltext":true},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5101525865","display_name":"Michael Nguyen","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3267-5462"},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Nguyen, Michael","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5139668430","display_name":"Quoc Nguyen","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Nguyen, Quoc","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5139684168","display_name":"Paul Vuong","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Vuong, Paul","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":0,"institutions_distinct_count":0,"corresponding_author_ids":[],"corresponding_institution_ids":[],"apc_list":null,"apc_paid":null,"fwci":null,"has_fulltext":false,"cited_by_count":0,"citation_normalized_percentile":null,"cited_by_percentile_year":null,"biblio":{"volume":null,"issue":null,"first_page":null,"last_page":null},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T12128","display_name":"AI in Service Interactions","score":0.12110000103712082,"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/T12128","display_name":"AI in Service Interactions","score":0.12110000103712082,"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/T10028","display_name":"Topic Modeling","score":0.09679999947547913,"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/T11948","display_name":"Machine Learning in Materials Science","score":0.08070000261068344,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/2505","display_name":"Materials Chemistry"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/25","display_name":"Materials Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/benchmark","display_name":"Benchmark (surveying)","score":0.8173999786376953},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/context","display_name":"Context (archaeology)","score":0.7609999775886536},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/selection","display_name":"Selection (genetic algorithm)","score":0.6791999936103821},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/disjoint-sets","display_name":"Disjoint sets","score":0.5819000005722046},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/base","display_name":"Base (topology)","score":0.5788000226020813},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/artifact","display_name":"Artifact (error)","score":0.32019999623298645}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C185798385","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1161707","display_name":"Benchmark (surveying)","level":2,"score":0.8173999786376953},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2779343474","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3109175","display_name":"Context (archaeology)","level":2,"score":0.7609999775886536},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.707099974155426},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C81917197","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q628760","display_name":"Selection (genetic algorithm)","level":2,"score":0.6791999936103821},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C45340560","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q215382","display_name":"Disjoint sets","level":2,"score":0.5819000005722046},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C42058472","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q810214","display_name":"Base (topology)","level":2,"score":0.5788000226020813},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C154945302","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11660","display_name":"Artificial intelligence","level":1,"score":0.4449999928474426},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C11413529","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8366","display_name":"Algorithm","level":1,"score":0.3723999857902527},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C119857082","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2539","display_name":"Machine learning","level":1,"score":0.365200012922287},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C80444323","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2878974","display_name":"Theoretical computer science","level":1,"score":0.3246999979019165},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2779010991","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2720909","display_name":"Artifact (error)","level":2,"score":0.32019999623298645},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C126255220","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q141495","display_name":"Mathematical optimization","level":1,"score":0.3034999966621399},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C124101348","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q172491","display_name":"Data mining","level":1,"score":0.30300000309944153},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C147764199","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6865248","display_name":"Minification","level":2,"score":0.29649999737739563},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C189950617","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q937228","display_name":"Property (philosophy)","level":2,"score":0.28610000014305115},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C137345334","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7303350","display_name":"Recursive partitioning","level":2,"score":0.2623000144958496}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":1,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.48550/arxiv.2606.28374","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2606.28374","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400194","display_name":"arXiv (Cornell University)","issn_l":"2331-8422","issn":["2331-8422"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I205783295","host_organization_name":"Cornell University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I205783295"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":null,"is_accepted":false,"is_published":null,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"Preprint"}],"best_oa_location":{"id":"doi:10.48550/arxiv.2606.28374","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2606.28374","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400194","display_name":"arXiv (Cornell University)","issn_l":"2331-8422","issn":["2331-8422"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I205783295","host_organization_name":"Cornell University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I205783295"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":null,"is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"Preprint"},"sustainable_development_goals":[{"display_name":"Quality Education","score":0.7151946425437927,"id":"https://metadata.un.org/sdg/4"}],"awards":[],"funders":[],"has_content":{"pdf":false,"grobid_xml":false},"content_urls":null,"referenced_works_count":0,"referenced_works":[],"related_works":[],"abstract_inverted_index":{"LLM":[0],"agents":[1],"are":[2,29],"increasingly":[3],"improved":[4],"without":[5,195],"weight":[6],"updates":[7],"by":[8,172],"evolving":[9],"a":[10,24,47,53,59,70,86,95,100,196,210],"natural-language":[11,62],"artifact,":[12],"such":[13],"as":[14,32],"reflections,":[15],"workflows,":[16],"playbooks,":[17],"cheatsheets,":[18],"or":[19],"optimized":[20],"prompts,":[21],"that":[22,57],"conditions":[23],"frozen":[25],"policy.":[26],"Such":[27],"methods":[28],"typically":[30],"reported":[31],"wins":[33],"on":[34,94,127,148,176,201,207,237],"the":[35,144,164,177,234],"single":[36],"benchmark":[37,239],"where":[38],"they":[39],"help.":[40],"We":[41,50],"study":[42],"them":[43],"apples-to-apples":[44],"and":[45,69,84,111,113,122,159,187,240],"surface":[46],"sharper":[48],"picture.":[49],"introduce":[51],"RSEA,":[52],"Recursive":[54],"Self-Evolving":[55],"Agent":[56],"carries":[58],"compact":[60],"three-layer":[61],"state:":[63],"an":[64],"imperative":[65],"strategy,":[66],"reusable":[67],"skills,":[68],"procedural":[71],"playbook.":[72],"Across":[73,104],"generations,":[74],"RSEA":[75,142],"rewrites":[76],"all":[77,125],"three":[78,134],"layers":[79],"from":[80],"its":[81],"own":[82],"trajectories":[83],"commits":[85],"candidate":[87],"only":[88],"if":[89],"it":[90,230],"does":[91],"not":[92],"regress":[93],"disjoint":[96],"held-out":[97,197,222],"split,":[98],"using":[99],"strict":[101,221],"keep-better":[102],"gate.":[103],"four":[105],"diverse":[106],"benchmarks,":[107],"ALFWorld,":[108,149],"GAIA,":[109],"(\u03c4)-bench,":[110],"WebShop,":[112,208],"six":[114],"faithful":[115],"baselines,":[116],"ReAct,":[117],"Reflexion,":[118],"GEPA,":[119],"AWM,":[120,173],"ACE,":[121],"Dynamic":[123,189],"Cheatsheet,":[124,190],"evaluated":[126],"one":[128],"shared":[129],"local":[130],"backbone,":[131],"we":[132],"find":[133],"main":[135],"results.":[136],"First,":[137],"no":[138],"artifact":[139],"universally":[140],"wins.":[141],"is":[143,174,185,199,224],"strongest":[145],"single-pass":[146],"method":[147],"reaching":[150],"69.3%":[151],"compared":[152,214],"with":[153,162,209,215],"64.6%":[154],"for":[155,217],"ReAct":[156,245],"(McNemar":[157],"(p=0.015)),":[158],"reaches":[160],"79.4%":[161],"retry,":[163],"best":[165,175],"overall":[166],"result.":[167],"However,":[168],"concrete-workflow":[169],"induction,":[170],"represented":[171],"strong-backbone":[178],"tool-use":[179],"tasks.":[180],"Second,":[181],"unguarded":[182],"context":[183,193,248],"evolution":[184],"high-variance":[186],"unsafe.":[188],"which":[191],"curates":[192],"online":[194],"gate,":[198],"near-best":[200],"ALFWorld":[202],"at":[203],"70.7%,":[204],"yet":[205],"collapses":[206],"score":[211],"of":[212],"0.14":[213],"0.43":[216],"ReAct.":[218],"Third,":[219],"RSEA's":[220],"selection":[223],"what":[225],"makes":[226],"recursive":[227],"self-evolution":[228],"monotone-safe:":[229],"never":[231],"significantly":[232],"underperforms":[233],"base":[235],"agent":[236],"any":[238],"falls":[241],"back":[242],"to":[243],"vanilla":[244],"when":[246],"evolved":[247],"would":[249],"hurt.":[250]},"counts_by_year":[],"updated_date":"2026-07-28T07:46:37.118299","created_date":"2026-07-01T00:00:00"}
