mlsanityData to 7 Oct 2026

THOUGHTSCULPT: Reasoning with Intermediate Revision and Search

arXiv 2404.05966 ↗First posted 9 Apr 2024cs.CL cs.AIcited by 11

On the map: LLM reasoning → Test-time compute and efficient thinking

Abstract (arXiv)

We present THOUGHTSCULPT, a general reasoning and search method for tasks with outputs that can be decomposed into components. THOUGHTSCULPT explores a search tree of potential solutions using Monte Carlo Tree Search (MCTS), building solutions one action at a time and evaluating according to any domain-specific heuristic, which in practice is often simply an LLM evaluator. Critically, our action space includes revision actions: THOUGHTSCULPT may choose to revise part of its previous output rather than continuing to build the rest of its output. Empirically, THOUGHTSCULPT outperforms state-of-the-art reasoning methods across three challenging tasks: Story Outline Improvement (up to +30% interestingness), Mini-Crosswords Solving (up to +16% word success rate), and Constrained Generation (up to +10% concept coverage).

Key facts. Cited by 11 papers in the map (data through 7 Oct 2026). Placed in Test-time compute and efficient thinking, one of 17 directions in LLM reasoning. Builds on 32 of its 37 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 9 Apr 2024.

Builds on

32 of 37 references.

Closest ancestors · 4

Same direction, newest first

  1. 2023Tree of Thoughts: Deliberate Problem Solving with Large Language Models17 May
  2. 2023Self-Evaluation Guided Beam Search for Reasoning1 May
  3. 2023REFINER: Reasoning Feedback on Intermediate Representations4 Apr
  4. 2023Self-Refine: Iterative Refinement with Self-Feedback30 Mar

Other references · 28

  1. 2020Language Models are Few-Shot Learnerscited by 32,199
  2. 2023GPT-4 Technical Reportcited by 18,132
  3. 2023LLaMA: Open and Efficient Foundation Language Modelscited by 13,958
  4. 2023Llama 2: Open Foundation and Fine-Tuned Chat Modelscited by 12,865
  5. 2022Chain-of-Thought Prompting Elicits Reasoning in Large Language Modelscited by 12,302
  6. 2022ReAct: Synergizing Reasoning and Acting in Language Modelscited by 8,355
  7. 2022Self-Consistency Improves Chain of Thought Reasoning in Language Modelscited by 5,601
  8. 2023Reflexion: Language Agents with Verbal Reinforcement Learningcited by 4,064
  9. 2022Training a Helpful and Harmless Assistant with Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedbackcited by 3,634
  10. 2022Scaling Instruction-Finetuned Language Modelscited by 2,997
  11. 2023G-Eval: NLG Evaluation using GPT-4 with Better Human Alignmentcited by 2,205
  12. 2022Inner Monologue: Embodied Reasoning through Planning with Language Modelscited by 1,057
16 more
  1. 2022Language Models as Zero-Shot Planners: Extracting Actionable Knowledge for Embodied Agentscited by 1,029
  2. 2023Teaching Large Language Models to Self-Debugcited by 963
  3. 2023Graph of Thoughts: Solving Elaborate Problems with Large Language Modelscited by 873
  4. 2023Describe, Explain, Plan and Select: Interactive Planning with Large Language Models Enables Open-World Multi-Task Agentscited by 396
  5. 2023Language Models can Solve Computer Taskscited by 371
  6. 2022CodeRL: Mastering Code Generation through Pretrained Models and Deep Reinforcement Learningcited by 342
  7. 2022Generating Sequences by Learning to Self-Correctcited by 271
  8. 2022Quark: Controllable Text Generation with Reinforced Unlearningcited by 236
  9. 2022Re3: Generating Longer Stories With Recursive Reprompting and Revisioncited by 193
  10. 2022Co-Writing Screenplays and Theatre Scripts with Language Models: An Evaluation by Industry Professionalscited by 191
  11. 2022Rainier: Reinforced Knowledge Introspector for Commonsense Question Answeringcited by 43
  12. 2021Learning to Repair: Repairing model output errors after deployment using a dynamic memory of feedbackcited by 35
  13. 2021NL-EDIT: Correcting semantic parse errors through natural language interactioncited by 33
  14. 2023Decomposing Complex Queries for Tip-of-the-tongue Retrievalcited by 24
  15. 2022DOC: Improving Long Story Coherence With Detailed Outline Controlcited by 11
  16. 2024RoT: Enhancing Large Language Models with Reflection on Search Treescited by 11

Built on by

Cited by year (2026 to 7 Oct)

Citing papers per year: 2024: 4; 2025: 5; 2026: 2.

11 papers.

  1. 2024From Decoding to Meta-Generation: Inference-time Algorithms for Large Language Modelscited by 136
  2. 2024WebPilot: A Versatile and Autonomous Multi-Agent System for Web Task Execution with Strategic Explorationcited by 100
  3. 2025Large Language Models for Planning: A Comprehensive and Systematic Surveycited by 38
  4. 2024Scaling LLM Inference with Optimized Sample Compute Allocationcited by 16
  5. 2025From Drafts to Answers: Unlocking LLM Potential via Aggregation Fine-Tuningcited by 12
  6. 2025Finding the Sweet Spot: Preference Data Construction for Scaling Preference Optimizationcited by 9
  7. 2024Towards Building Specialized Generalist AI with System 1 and System 2 Fusioncited by 8
  8. 2025Hierarchical Vision Language Action Model Using Success and Failure Demonstrationscited by 2
  9. 2025CLEAR: Contrasting Textual Feedback with Experts and Amateurs for Reasoningcited by 0
  10. 2026Exploring Learners' Expectations and Engagement When Collaborating with Constructively Controversial Peer Agentscited by 0
  11. 2026The Periodic Table of LLM Reasoning: A Structured Survey of Reasoning Paradigms, Methods, and Failure Modescited by 0

Similar, not cited

Close in wording, no citation either way

  1. 2023Algorithm of Thoughts: Enhancing Exploration of Ideas in Large Language Models
  2. 2026Beyond Fixed Budgets: Characterizing the Inelasticity and Limitations of Tree-of-Thought Reasoning Strategies
  3. 2026Tree of Thoughts as a Classical Heuristic Search Problem: Formal Foundations and Design Patterns
  4. 2024RATT: A Thought Structure for Coherent and Correct LLM Reasoning
  5. 2025Retro-Search: Exploring Untaken Paths for Deeper and Efficient Reasoning
  6. 2025Adaptive Graph of Thoughts: Test-Time Adaptive Reasoning Unifying Chain, Tree, and Graph Structures
  7. 2024RethinkMCTS: Refining Erroneous Thoughts in Monte Carlo Tree Search for Code Generation
  8. 2026Structured Thoughts For Improved Reasoning And Context Pruning