# Hipster: Integrating Theory Exploration in a Proof Assistant

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1405.3426 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1405.3426/

## Key facts

- Cited by 2 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 14 May 2014.

## Built on by (most cited first, 2 of 2)

- [A Llama walks into the 'Bar': Efficient Supervised Fine-Tuning for Legal Reasoning in the Multi-state Bar Exam](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.04945/) (2025)
- [Conjectures, Tests and Proofs: An Overview of Theory Exploration](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2109.03721/) (2021)

## Abstract (arXiv)

This paper describes Hipster, a system integrating theory exploration with the proof assistant Isabelle/HOL. Theory exploration is a technique for automatically discovering new interesting lemmas in a given theory development. Hipster can be used in two main modes. The first is exploratory mode, used for automatically generating basic lemmas about a given set of datatypes and functions in a new theory development. The second is proof mode, used in a particular proof attempt, trying to discover the missing lemmas which would allow the current goal to be proved. Hipster's proof mode complements and boosts existing proof automation techniques that rely on automatically selecting existing lemmas, by inventing new lemmas that need induction to be proved. We show example uses of both modes.