梳理大模型智能体工作流优化方法,区分静态与动态结构设计。
From Static Templates to Dynamic Runtime Graphs: A Survey of Workflow Optimization for LLM Agents
- 按执行前/中确定工作流结构,分静态模板与动态图两种范式。
- 提出三维度分类框架:结构决定时机、优化对象、评估信号来源。
- 强调结构可解释性与运行时行为分离,助力可复现评估。
基于大语言模型(LLM)的系统通过构建可执行的工作流来解决问题,这些工作流交织了LLM调用、信息检索、工具使用、代码执行、内存更新和验证等操作。本文综述了近年来用于设计和优化此类工作流的方法,将其统称为智能体计算图(ACGs)。我们根据工作流结构的确定时机进行文献组织:静态方法在部署前固定可复用的工作流骨架;动态方法则在执行前或执行中选择、生成或修改工作流。进一步从三个维度划分:结构确定时间、优化部分、以及指导优化的评估信号(如任务指标、验证器信号、偏好或轨迹反馈)。同时区分可复用的工作流模板、运行时具体实现的图结构及实际执行轨迹,明确设计决策与实际部署行为的差异。最后提出结构感知的评估视角,结合下游任务指标,引入图级属性、执行成本、鲁棒性及输入间结构变化等维度。目标是建立清晰术语体系、统一方法定位框架、提升文献可比性,并推动未来工作在流程优化上的可复现评估标准。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
Large language model (LLM)-based systems are becoming increasingly popular for solving tasks by constructing executable workflows that interleave LLM calls, information retrieval, tool use, code execution, memory updates, and verification. This survey reviews recent methods for designing and optimizing such workflows, which we treat as agentic computation graphs (ACGs). We organize the literature based on when workflow structure is determined, where structure refers to which components or agents are present, how they depend on each other, and how information flows between them. This lens distinguishes static methods, which fix a reusable workflow scaffold before deployment, from dynamic methods, which select, generate, or revise the workflow for a particular run before or during execution. We further organize prior work along three dimensions: when structure is determined, what part of the workflow is optimized, and which evaluation signals guide optimization (e.g., task metrics, verifier signals, preferences, or trace-derived feedback). We also distinguish reusable workflow templates, run-specific realized graphs, and execution traces, separating reusable design choices from the structures actually deployed in a given run and from realized runtime behavior. Finally, we outline a structure-aware evaluation perspective that complements downstream task metrics with graph-level properties, execution cost, robustness, and structural variation across inputs. Our goal is to provide a clear vocabulary, a unified framework for positioning new methods, a more comparable view of existing body of literature, and a more reproducible evaluation standard for future work in workflow optimizations for LLM agents.
Thank you to arXiv for use of its open access interoperability. PaperDance 不是 arXiv 官方产品;中文卡片由大模型生成,请以原文为准。