Self-Evolving Agents

Ask about this topic

Overview

Self-evolving agents are systems that use experience from task execution to change how they solve future tasks, rather than relying only on a fixed model or hand-designed workflow. Common approaches store and refine reusable skills or memories, optimize prompts and agent harnesses, train policies with reinforcement learning, or co-evolve task generators, environments, and teams of agents. These methods are tested in settings such as web and GUI use, coding, embodied robotics, scientific workflows, and reasoning benchmarks, with feedback ranging from execution outcomes to verifiers and paired validation. A central challenge is making improvements transfer to new tasks without forgetting earlier abilities or introducing unsafe behavior; reliable evaluation, update verification, and long-term monitoring remain open problems.

Latest papers

CardsList

427 papers104 papers in the last four weeks, up 148% on the four weeks before. 0.6% of all new papers.

  1. EvoMaster: A Foundational Evolving Agent Framework for Agentic Science at Scale

    Apr 19, 2026Xinyu Zhu, Yuzhu Cai, Zexi Liu +20Continual Learning for LLM AgentsAI Agents for Scientific Discovery

    School of Artificial Intelligence, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China. · SciLand, Shanghai, China. · DP Technology, Beijing, China.

  2. GenericAgent: A Token-Efficient Self-Evolving LLM Agent via Contextual Information Density Maximization (V1.0)

    Apr 18, 2026Jiaqing Liang, Jinyi Han, Weijia Li +15Tool-Augmented Language Model AgentsLLM Agent Memory

    Advantage AI Agent Lab (A3 Lab)

  3. On Safety Risks in Experience-Driven Self-Evolving Agents

    Apr 18, 2026Weixiang Zhao, Yichen Zhang, Yingshuo Wang +8LLM Safety EvaluationOver-Refusal

    Harbin Institute of Technology · Singapore Management University · SERES

  4. From Procedural Skills to Strategy Genes: Towards Experience-Driven Test-Time Evolution

    Apr 16, 2026Junjie Wang, Yiming Ren, Haoyang ZhangEvolutionary OptimizationLLM Agent Skill Learning

    Independent Researcher · Infinite Evolution Lab, EvoMap

  5. Autonomous Evolution of EDA Tools: Multi-Agent Self-Evolved ABC

    Apr 16, 2026Cunxi Yu, Haoxing RenElectronic Design AutomationAutomated Software Engineering

    NVIDIA Research University of Maryland USA · NVIDIA Research USA

  6. Autogenesis: A Self-Evolving Agent Protocol

    Apr 16, 2026Wentao Zhang, Zhe Zhao, Haibin Wen +4Multi-Agent LLM SystemsLLM Agent Self-Improvement

    Nanyang Technological University · Stanford University · City University of Hong Kong +1

  7. Layered Mutability: Continuity and Governance in Persistent Self-Modifying Agents

    Apr 16, 2026Krti TallamAgent MemoryAI Agent Governance

    Kamiwaza AI, San Francisco, CA, USA

  8. AgentGA: Evolving Code Solutions in Agent-Seed Space

    Apr 16, 2026David Y. Y. Tan, Kellie Chin, Jingxian ZhangMetaheuristic OptimizationAgentic Code Generation

    Diagnostics Development Hub (DxD Hub) Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore

  9. ππ-Play: Multi-Agent Self-Play via Privileged Self-Distillation without External Data

    Apr 15, 2026Yaocheng Zhang, Yuanheng Zhu, Wenyue Chong +7Self-Play RLSelf-Evolving Agents

    Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences · School of Advanced Interdisciplinary Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences · School of Artificial Intelligence, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences +1

  10. Evolvable Embodied Agent for Robotic Manipulation via Long Short-Term Reflection and Optimization

    Apr 15, 2026Jianzong Wang, Botao Zhao, Yayun He +2Self-Evolving AgentsRobotic Manipulation

    Ping An Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. Shenzhen, China

  11. Mem2^2Evolve: Towards Self-Evolving Agents via Co-Evolutionary Capability Expansion and Experience Distillation

    Apr 13, 2026Zihao Cheng, Zeming Liu, Yingyu Shan +7LLM Agent Self-ImprovementSelf-Evolving Agents

    Beihang University · Beijing Institute of Technology · Independent Researcher +2

  12. ABot-Claw: A Foundation for Persistent, Cooperative, and Self-Evolving Robotic Agents

    Apr 11, 2026Dongjie Huo, Haoyun Liu, Guoqing Liu +10Self-Evolving AgentsLanguage-Conditioned Robot Control

    AMAP CV Lab Alibaba Group

  13. EE-MCP: Self-Evolving MCP-GUI Agents via Automated Environment Generation and Experience Learning

    Apr 10, 2026Tiantian He, Yihang Chen, Keyue Jiang +4Computer-Use AgentsSelf-Improving Agents

    University College London · Huawei Noah’s Ark Lab · The Chinese University of Hong Kong +2

  14. SEA-Eval: A Benchmark for Evaluating Self-Evolving Agents Beyond Episodic Assessment

    Apr 10, 2026Sihang Jiang, Lipeng Ma, Zhonghua Hong +9Self-Evolving AgentsAI Agent Benchmarks

    Fudan University

  15. Mastering PokeGym: Graph-Guided Multimodal Evolution at Test Time

    Apr 9, 2026Ruizhi Zhang, Ye Huang, Yuangang Pan +5Game-Playing AgentsMultimodal Agents

    Shenzhen Institute for Advanced Study, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China · A*STAR · College of Computer Science and Software Engineering, Shenzhen University

  16. SEARL: Joint Optimization of Policy and Tool Graph Memory for Self-Evolving Agents

    Apr 9, 2026Xinshun Feng, Xinhao Song, Lijun Li +2Self-Evolving AgentsMemory-Augmented Agents

    Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Laboratory · Shanghai Jiaotong University

  17. Prism: An Evolutionary Memory Substrate for Multi-Agent Open-Ended Discovery

    Apr 8, 2026Suyash MishraAgent Memory ManagementGraph-Based Agent Memory

    AI Researcher · Basel, Switzerland

  18. A mathematical theory of evolution for self-designing AIs

    Apr 6, 2026Kenneth D HarrisSelf-Evolving AgentsAI Alignment

    UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London WC1N 3BG, UK

  19. Memory Intelligence Agent

    Apr 6, 2026Jingyang Qiao, Weicheng Meng, Yu Cheng +6Memory-Augmented Language Model AgentsAutonomous Research Agents

  20. RoboPhD: Evolving Diverse Complex Agents Under Tight Evaluation Budgets

    Apr 6, 2026Andrew Borthwick, Stephen Ash, Anthony GalczakLLMs for Evolutionary OptimizationLarge Language Model-Guided Optimization

    Independent Researchers

  21. CoEvoSkills: Self-Evolving Agent Skills via Co-Evolutionary Verification

    Apr 2, 2026Hanrong Zhang, Shicheng Fan, Henry Peng Zou +11LLM Agent Skill LearningSelf-Evolving Agents

    Steve · University of Illinois Chicago · MBZUAI +4

  22. CORAL: Towards Autonomous Multi-Agent Evolution for Open-Ended Discovery

    Apr 2, 2026Ao Qu, Han Zheng, Zijian Zhou +14Large Language Model-Guided OptimizationMulti-Agent Collaboration

    MIT · Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology · NUS +7

  23. A Self-Evolving Agentic Framework for Metasurface Inverse Design

    Apr 1, 2026Yi Huang, Bowen Zheng, Yunxi Dong +4Inverse DesignSelf-Evolving Agents

    Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Massachusetts Lowell

  24. Toward Vibe Medicine: A Self-Evolving Multi-Agent Framework for Clinical Decision Support

    Apr 1, 2026Qianxue Zhang, Yiming Ren, Shihuan Qin +18Clinical Decision SupportMulti-Agent LLM Systems

    Medical AI Lab, The First Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, 050000, Hebei, China · Hebei Provincial Medical Artificial Intelligence Research Institute, Shijiazhuang, 050000, Hebei, China · Hebei Provincial Engineering Research Center for AI-Based Cancer Treatment Decision-Making, The First Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, 050000, Hebei, China +7

  25. ASI-Evolve: AI Accelerates AI

    Mar 31, 2026Weixian Xu, Tiantian Mi, Yixiu Liu +6Autonomous Research AgentsAutomated Algorithm Discovery

    SJTU · SII · GAIR

  26. Synergy: A Next-Generation General-Purpose Agent for Open Agentic Web

    Mar 30, 2026Xiaohang Nie, Zihan Guo, Kezhuo Yang +9Web AgentsLLM Agent Harnesses

    Shanghai Innovation Institute · Harbin Institute of Technology · Holos Engineering +3

  27. COvolve: Adversarial Co-Evolution of Large-Language-Model-Generated Policies and Environments via Two-Player Zero-Sum Game

    Mar 30, 2026Alkis Sygkounas, Rishi Hazra, Andreas Persson +2Lifelong Learning AgentsSelf-Evolving Agents

    Machine Perception and Interaction Lab, Örebro University, Sweden

  28. Self-evolving AI agents for protein discovery and directed evolution

    Mar 28, 2026Yang Tan, Lingrong Zhang, Mingchen Li +5Autonomous Research AgentsSelf-Evolving Agents

    Shanghai National Center for Applied Mathematics (SJTU Center) & Institute of Natural Sciences, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China. · Shanghai Innovation Institute, Shanghai, 200231, China. · School of Computer Science, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China. +1

  29. The Kitchen Loop: User-Spec-Driven Development for a Self-Evolving Codebase

    Mar 26, 2026Yannick RoySoftware EngineeringAutomated Software Engineering

  30. SEVerA: Verified Synthesis of Self-Evolving Agents

    Mar 26, 2026Debangshu Banerjee, Changming Xu, Eugene Ie +5Agentic Code GenerationSelf-Evolving Agents

    University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA · Google, USA