Symbolic Planning

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Overview

Symbolic planning represents goals, states, and actions explicitly so a system can search for action sequences that achieve a goal. Common approaches use STRIPS or PDDL models with heuristic search, SAT or SMT solving, and hierarchical task planning; other work learns action models and search heuristics. Neuro-symbolic systems connect language and vision models to symbolic planners for robotics, using verification, execution feedback, and replanning to handle real-world tasks. A central challenge is balancing scalable, generalizable planning with reliable grounding and execution when models or observations are incomplete, as evaluations range from IPC benchmarks and puzzles to household robotics.

Latest papers

CardsList

89 papers11 papers in the last four weeks, up 10% on the four weeks before. 0.1% of all new papers.

  1. GADAR: Generalizing Across Domains via Action Ranking for Classical Planning

    Oct 26, 2026Rajesh Mangannavar, Pranay Dugar, Prasad TadepalliCross-Domain GeneralizationSymbolic Planning

    Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97330, USA

  2. MemPlan: Memory-Conditioned PDDL Planning for Partially Observable Text Environments

    Oct 21, 2026Tengwei Song, Robert HoehndorfLLM Agent PlanningSymbolic Planning

    King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia · Åbo Akademi University, Finland · ELLIS Institute Finland

  3. When Planning Problems Become Hard for LLMs: Separating Structural Complexity from Semantic Interpretability

    Oct 18, 2026Mayukh Debnath, Adeyinka Adedigba, Rammohan MallipeddiLLM PlanningSymbolic Planning

    Robotics and Autonomous Systems (AI), Arizona State University, Tempe, USA · Department of Artificial Intelligence, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, South Korea

  4. Refuse the Harm, Complete the Task via Graph-of-Rules Planning for LLM-Enabled Robots

    Oct 17, 2026Ali Taheri, Alireza Taban, Qizhou Wang +1LLM Agent SafetyLarge Language Model-Based Robot Planning

    Nanyang Technological University · Queen’s University · RIKEN AIP

  5. What Makes a Good Symbol for Hybrid Discrete-Continuous Planning?

    Oct 16, 2026Yiyuan Pan, Changliu Liu, Jiayuan MaoSymbolic PlanningSymbolic Reasoning

    Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University · University of Pennsylvania

  6. APTree: Extended Behavior Trees for Adaptive and Scalable Automated Robotic Task Planning in Construction

    Oct 13, 2026Shermin Sherkat, Thomas Wortmann, Andreas WortmannRobot Task PlanningRobotic Construction

    Institute for Computational Design and Construction, Department for Computing in Architecture (ICD/CA), University of Stuttgart, Keplerstraße 11, Stuttgart, 70174, Germany · Institute for Control Engineering of Machine Tools and Manufacturing Units (ISW), University of Stuttgart, Seidenstraße 36, Stuttgart, 70174, Germany

  7. Learning How to Search for Plans with Exponentially Less Space

    Oct 7, 2026Dominik Drexler, Simon Ståhlberg, Markus Fritzsche +1Symbolic PlanningPolicy Learning

    Linköping University Linköping, Sweden · RWTH Aachen University Aachen, Germany · Universidad Simón Bolívar Caracas, Venezuela

  8. LeanPlan: Optimal Planning with LLM-Generated Heuristics and Admissibility Proofs

    Oct 6, 2026André G. Pereira, Augusto B. Corrêa, Felipe Meneguzzi +1Automated Heuristic DesignLLM Planning

    Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul Brazil · University of Oxford United Kingdom · University of Aberdeen United Kingdom +1

  9. Concurrent Semantic Search and Mission Execution for LTL Missions in Unknown Environments

    Sep 30, 2026Fernando Salanova Gaspar, David Morilla Cabello, Cristian Mahulea Poleuca +1Symbolic PlanningRobot Navigation

  10. Representation Alignment as a Bottleneck in LLM-Based Retrosynthesis Planning

    Sep 28, 2026Hyunwoo Yoo, Cassie Huang, Haebin Shin +2LLM PlanningSymbolic Planning

    Drexel University · University of Michigan

  11. FONDANT: Strong and Best-Effort Planning via Antichains

    Sep 28, 2026Benjamin Aminof, Tuan Khai Nguyen, Sasha RubinSymbolic PlanningModel-Based Planning

    Technical University of Vienna, Austria · School of Computer Science, The University of Sydney, Australia

  12. SAGE: Symbolic Action-Gating and Editing for LLM Task Planners

    Sep 28, 2026Trung Minh Bui, JongSul Moon, YoungOuk Kim +3Large Language Model-Based Robot PlanningSymbolic Planning

    Intelligent Robotics Research Center, Korea Electronics Technology Institute (KETI), Seongnam 13449, Republic of Korea

  13. Provably Complete Generalized Planning with LLMs

    Sep 22, 2026Katharina Stein, Chaahat Jain, Jörg Hoffmann +1LLM PlanningSymbolic Planning

    Saarland Informatics Campus, Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany · German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), Saarbrücken, Germany

  14. Neurosymbolic Action Model Learning under Partial Observability

    Sep 22, 2026Adem Kikaj, Lennert De Smet, Giuseppe Marra +1Symbolic PlanningNeurosymbolic Learning

    KU Leuven, Belgium

  15. The syntax and semantics of goals

    Sep 16, 2026David M. Abel, Mark K. HoComputational Cognitive ModelingSymbolic Planning

    Department of Informatics University of Edinburgh · Department of Psychology New York University

  16. CAD-Based Relation Learning and Geometric-Symbolic Planning for Robotic Assembly

    Sep 15, 2026Fabian Harlacher, Christian FriedrichSymbolic PlanningRobot Task Planning

    Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Production Systems, Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences (HKA), Moltkestraße 30, Karlsruhe, 76133, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

  17. Bridging Learned Visual Perception and Symbolic Belief-Space Planning

    Sep 15, 2026Guy Azran, Michael Navat, Sarah KerenBelief-Space PlanningSymbolic Planning

    Taub Faculty of Computer Science, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology · Faculty of Mathematics, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology

  18. Grounded Evaluation and Repair for NL-to-PDDL Problem Generation

    Sep 9, 2026Joana Rosa, Pedro Santos, Valdemar Oliveira +3LLM EvaluationLLM Planning

    INESC INOV, Lisbon, Portugal · Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal · Motamineral Minerais Industriais S.A. +1

  19. Probabilistic Plan Legibility with Off-the-shelf Planners

    Sep 4, 2026Michele Persiani, Thomas HellströmSymbolic Planning

    Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden

  20. Towards Numerical TOHTN Planning with SMT-based HTN-SAT Encoding

    Sep 3, 2026Gaspard Quenard, Takudzwa Togarepi, Damien Pellier +1Hierarchical PlanningSymbolic Planning

    1Univ. Grenoble Alpes, France

  21. Lose the Order, Keep the Hierarchy: Deordering HTN Plans

    Sep 3, 2026Takudzwa Togarepi, Gaspard Quenard, Damien Pellier +1Hierarchical PlanningSymbolic Planning

    1Universit´e Grenoble Aples, France

  22. Dual Process Motion Planning

    Sep 1, 2026Jiayi Yan, Francesco Fabiano, Alessandro AbateSymbolic PlanningMotion Planning

    The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen · University of Oxford

  23. MaCoPlanner: LLM-Assisted Manual-Compiled Task Planning with Proactive Safety Verification for Robotic Industrial Panel Operation

    Aug 28, 2026Guipeng Xin, Jiahe Xua, Mohammad Deghat +4Robot Task PlanningLarge Language Model-Based Robot Planning

    School of Mechanical Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China · School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia · School of Civil and Hydraulic Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

  24. CSymPlan: Certified Symbolic Planning and Control for High-DOF Manipulators

    Aug 24, 2026Aditya Narendra, Ashok Kumar Saini, Mahathi Anand +3Robotic ControlSymbolic Planning

    Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates · Learning Systems and Robotics Lab, Technical University of Munich, Germany · Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Munich, Germany +1

  25. From Solver Feedback to Faithful Plans: Multi-Role Reinforcement Learning for Symbolic Planning

    Aug 22, 2026Chenghao Zhang, Yikai Mao, Haoyu Gao +4LLM PlanningSymbolic Planning

    University of Pennsylvania · Georgia Institute of Technology · Pace University +1

  26. LLM-Only PDDL Domain Repair with Open-Weight Models

    Aug 18, 2026Nader Karimi Bavandpour, Pascal BercherAutomated Program RepairSymbolic Planning

    School of Computing, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

  27. PDDL-ART: Autonomous Symbolic Abstraction From Demonstration For Long-Horizon Robotic Manipulation Using Vision-Language Models

    Aug 17, 2026Disha Kamale, Dmitry BerensonLong-Horizon Robotic ManipulationSymbolic Planning

    Robotics Department, UNiversity of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109

  28. Neurosymbolic Embodied Agents

    Aug 17, 2026Mohammad Albinhassan, Yuming Feng, Alessandra Russo +1Neuro-Symbolic PlanningLarge Language Model-Based Robot Planning

    Department of Computing Imperial College London · Department of Computer Science Johns Hopkins University, Whiting School of Engineering · Department of Computer Science City, University of London

  29. PDDLCoder: Agentic PDDL Generation for LLM-Assisted Symbolic Planning

    Aug 17, 2026Veit Laule, Jiangtao Shuai, Manfred Hauswirth +1LLM PlanningSymbolic Planning

    Technical University of Berlin Berlin, Germany · Fraunhofer FOKUS & Technical University of Berlin Berlin, Germany

  30. Neurosymbolic Reasoning with Incremental Knowledge for Sample Efficient Hierarchical Reinforcement Learning

    Aug 4, 2026Subrat Prasad Panda, Blaise Genest, Arvind EaswaranReinforcement LearningSymbolic Planning

    CCDS, NTU Singapore · IPAL, CNRS, France