Paper · arXiv 2509.02547
The Landscape of Agentic Reinforcement Learning for LLMs: A Survey
Guibin Zhang, Hejia Geng, Xiaohang Yu, Zhenfei Yin, Zaibin Zhang, Zelin Tan, Heng Zhou, Zhongzhi Li, Xiangyuan Xue, Yijiang Li, Yifan Zhou, Yang Chen, Chen Zhang, Yutao Fan, Zihu Wang, Songtao Huang, Yue Liao, Hongru Wang, Mengyue Yang, Heng Ji, Michael Littman, Jun Wang, Shuicheng Yan, Philip Torr, Lei Bai
Agentic reinforcement learning transforms large language models into autonomous decision-making agents by leveraging temporally extended POMDPs, enhancing capabilities like planning and reasoning through reinforcement learning.
Abstract
The emergence of agentic reinforcement learning (Agentic RL) marks a paradigm shift from conventional reinforcement learning applied to large language models (LLM RL), reframing LLMs from passive sequence generators into autonomous, decision-making agents embedded in complex, dynamic worlds. This survey formalizes this conceptual shift by contrasting the degenerate single-step Markov Decision Processes (MDPs) of LLM-RL with the temporally extended, partially observable Markov decision processes (POMDPs) that define Agentic RL. Building on this foundation, we propose a comprehensive twofold taxonomy: one organized around core agentic capabilities, including planning, tool use, memory, reasoning, self-improvement, and perception, and the other around their applications across diverse task domains. Central to our thesis is that reinforcement learning serves as the critical mechanism for transforming these capabilities from static, heuristic modules into adaptive, robust agentic behavior. To support and accelerate future research, we consolidate the landscape of open-source environments, benchmarks, and frameworks into a practical compendium. By synthesizing over five hundred recent works, this survey charts the contours of this rapidly evolving field and highlights the opportunities and challenges that will shape the development of scalable, general-purpose AI agents.