A Taxonomy of Architecture Options for Foundation Model-based Agents: Analysis and Decision Model
On the map: LLM agents and tool use → General LLM agent frameworks and benchmarks
Abstract (arXiv)
The rapid advancement of AI technology has led to widespread applications of agent systems across various domains. However, the need for detailed architecture design poses significant challenges in designing and operating these systems. This paper introduces a taxonomy focused on the architectures of foundation-model-based agents, addressing critical aspects such as functional capabilities and non-functional qualities. We also discuss the operations involved in both design-time and run-time phases, providing a comprehensive view of architectural design and operational characteristics. By unifying and detailing these classifications, our taxonomy aims to improve the design of foundation-model-based agents. Additionally, the paper establishes a decision model that guides critical design and runtime decisions, offering a structured approach to enhance the development of foundation-model-based agents. Our contributions include providing a structured architecture design option and guiding the development process of foundation-model-based agents, thereby addressing current fragmentation in the field.
Key facts. Cited by 4 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026). Placed in General LLM agent frameworks and benchmarks, one of 16 directions in LLM agents and tool use. Builds on 92 of its 149 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 6 Aug 2024.
Builds on
92 of 149 references.
Closest ancestors · 24
Same direction, newest first
- 2024A Review of Prominent Paradigms for LLM-Based Agents: Tool Use (Including RAG), Planning, and Feedback Learning9 Jun
- 2024Mixture-of-Agents Enhances Large Language Model Capabilities7 Jun
- 2024Position: Foundation Agents as the Paradigm Shift for Decision Making27 May
- 2024Agent Design Pattern Catalogue: A Collection of Architectural Patterns for Foundation Model based Agents16 May
- 2024The Landscape of Emerging AI Agent Architectures for Reasoning, Planning, and Tool Calling: A Survey17 Apr
- 2024Middleware for LLMs: Tools Are Instrumental for Language Agents in Complex Environments22 Feb
- 2024A Survey on Context-Aware Multi-Agent Systems: Techniques, Challenges and Future Directions3 Feb
- 2024Large Language Model based Multi-Agents: A Survey of Progress and Challenges21 Jan
- 2023Towards Responsible Generative AI: A Reference Architecture for Designing Foundation Model based Agents22 Nov
- 2023A Dynamic LLM-Powered Agent Network for Task-Oriented Agent Collaboration3 Oct
- 2023SMART-LLM: Smart Multi-Agent Robot Task Planning using Large Language Models18 Sep
- 2023Agents: An Open-source Framework for Autonomous Language Agents14 Sep
12 more
- 2023The Rise and Potential of Large Language Model Based Agents: A Survey14 Sep
- 2023Cognitive Architectures for Language Agents5 Sep
- 2023Self-driven Grounding: Large Language Model Agents with Automatical Language-aligned Skill Learning4 Sep
- 2023A Survey on Large Language Model based Autonomous Agents22 Aug
- 2023ExpeL: LLM Agents Are Experiential Learners20 Aug
- 2023ChatEval: Towards Better LLM-based Evaluators through Multi-Agent Debate14 Aug
- 2023AgentBench: Evaluating LLMs as Agents7 Aug
- 2023InterAct: Exploring the Potentials of ChatGPT as a Cooperative Agent3 Aug
- 2023MetaGPT: Meta Programming for A Multi-Agent Collaborative Framework1 Aug
- 2023Multi-Agent Collaboration: Harnessing the Power of Intelligent LLM Agents5 Jun
- 2023Towards autonomous system: flexible modular production system enhanced with large language model agents28 Apr
- 2023Harms from Increasingly Agentic Algorithmic Systems20 Feb
Other references · 68
- 2017Attention Is All You Needcited by 60,361
- 2023GPT-4 Technical Reportcited by 18,396
- 2023LLaMA: Open and Efficient Foundation Language Modelscited by 14,132
- 2023Llama 2: Open Foundation and Fine-Tuned Chat Modelscited by 13,028
- 2022ReAct: Synergizing Reasoning and Acting in Language Modelscited by 8,695
- 2022Self-Consistency Improves Chain of Thought Reasoning in Language Modelscited by 5,708
- 2023Reflexion: Language Agents with Verbal Reinforcement Learningcited by 4,276
- 2023Toolformer: Language Models Can Teach Themselves to Use Toolscited by 4,182
- 2020Dense Passage Retrieval for Open-Domain Question Answeringcited by 3,824
- 2023Generative Agents: Interactive Simulacra of Human Behaviorcited by 3,568
- 2023Self-Refine: Iterative Refinement with Self-Feedbackcited by 3,442
- 2023SWE-bench: Can Language Models Resolve Real-World GitHub Issues?cited by 3,373
38 more
- 2023Tree of Thoughts: Deliberate Problem Solving with Large Language Modelscited by 3,211
- 2023Voyager: An Open-Ended Embodied Agent with Large Language Modelscited by 2,191
- 2019Dream to Control: Learning Behaviors by Latent Imaginationcited by 1,653
- 2023Mind2Web: Towards a Generalist Agent for the Webcited by 1,242
- 2023PaLM 2 Technical Reportcited by 1,162
- 2023GAIA: a benchmark for General AI Assistantscited by 1,128
- 2022Inner Monologue: Embodied Reasoning through Planning with Language Modelscited by 1,081
- 2023BloombergGPT: A Large Language Model for Financecited by 939
- 2023Reasoning with Language Model is Planning with World Modelcited by 861
- 2024Evaluating Very Long-Term Conversational Memory of LLM Agentscited by 830
- 2024A Survey on the Memory Mechanism of Large Language Model based Agentscited by 634
- 2023MemoryBank: Enhancing Large Language Models with Long-Term Memorycited by 556
- 2023MM-REACT: Prompting ChatGPT for Multimodal Reasoning and Actioncited by 517
- 2023LLM+P: Empowering Large Language Models with Optimal Planning Proficiencycited by 501
- 2023Large Language Models for Software Engineering: A Systematic Literature Reviewcited by 399
- 2023Ghost in the Minecraft: Generally Capable Agents for Open-World Environments via Large Language Models with Text-based Knowledge and Memorycited by 289
- 2024CodeAgent: Enhancing Code Generation with Tool-Integrated Agent Systems for Real-World Repo-level Coding Challengescited by 282
- 2024When Can LLMs Actually Correct Their Own Mistakes? A Critical Survey of Self-Correction of LLMscited by 240
- 2024Tool Learning with Large Language Models: A Surveycited by 223
- 2023Leveraging Pre-trained Large Language Models to Construct and Utilize World Models for Model-based Task Planningcited by 207
- 2024OS-Copilot: Towards Generalist Computer Agents with Self-Improvementcited by 205
- 2024MapCoder: Multi-Agent Code Generation for Competitive Problem Solvingcited by 177
- 2024Ferret-UI: Grounded Mobile UI Understanding with Multimodal LLMscited by 176
- 2023Foundation Models for Decision Making: Problems, Methods, and Opportunitiescited by 164
- 2024GenAD: Generalized Predictive Model for Autonomous Drivingcited by 150
- 2023Routing to the Expert: Efficient Reward-guided Ensemble of Large Language Modelscited by 145
- 2023Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) 2.0: A Manifesto of Open Challenges and Interdisciplinary Research Directionscited by 125
- 2022A Survey of Multi-Agent Deep Reinforcement Learning with Communicationcited by 104
- 2024ScreenAI: A Vision-Language Model for UI and Infographics Understandingcited by 98
- 2024AIOS: LLM Agent Operating Systemcited by 97
- 2024Evolutionary Computation in the Era of Large Language Model: Survey and Roadmapcited by 90
- 2023Making Language Models Better Tool Learners with Execution Feedbackcited by 70
- 2023Tool Documentation Enables Zero-Shot Tool-Usage with Large Language Modelscited by 68
- 2023RCAgent: Cloud Root Cause Analysis by Autonomous Agents with Tool-Augmented Large Language Modelscited by 65
- 2023RET-LLM: Towards a General Read-Write Memory for Large Language Modelscited by 64
- 2023Automating Customer Service using LangChain: Building custom open-source GPT Chatbot for organizationscited by 61
- 2023Prompting Is All You Need: Automated Android Bug Replay with Large Language Modelscited by 40
- 2023Open-Ended Instructable Embodied Agents with Memory-Augmented Large Language Modelscited by 37
50 most cited of 68 All 68 (JSON)
Built on by
Citing papers per year: 2024: 1; 2025: 0; 2026: 3.
4 papers.
- 2026AI Agent Systems: Architectures, Applications, and Evaluationcited by 13
- 2024A Layered Architecture for Developing and Enhancing Capabilities in Large Language Model-based Software Systemscited by 1
- 2026Foundation-Model-Based Agents in Industrial Automation: Purposes, Capabilities, and Open Challengescited by 1
- 2026Describing Agentic AI Systems with C4: Lessons from Industry Projectscited by 0
- 2026Foundation-Model-Based Agents in Industrial Automation: Purposes, Capabilities, and Open Challenges4 May 2026
- 2026Describing Agentic AI Systems with C4: Lessons from Industry Projects16 Mar 2026
- 2026AI Agent Systems: Architectures, Applications, and Evaluation5 Jan 2026
- 2024A Layered Architecture for Developing and Enhancing Capabilities in Large Language Model-based Software Systems19 Nov 2024
Similar, not cited
Close in wording, no citation either way
- 2025AgentArcEval: An Architecture Evaluation Method for Foundation Model based Agents
- 2026Agentic Design Patterns: A System-Theoretic Framework
- 2025AI Agents: Evolution, Architecture, and Real-World Applications
- 2026The Agent Use of Agent Beings: Agent Cybernetics Is the Missing Science of Foundation Agents
- 2024Swiss Cheese Model for AI Safety: A Taxonomy and Reference Architecture for Multi-Layered Guardrails of Foundation Model Based Agents
- 2025Investigating the Potential of Large Language Model-Based Router Multi-Agent Architectures for Foundation Design Automation: A Task Classification and Expert Selection Study
- 2024Position Paper: Agent AI Towards a Holistic Intelligence
- 2025Distinguishing Autonomous AI Agents from Collaborative Agentic Systems: A Comprehensive Framework for Understanding Modern Intelligent Architectures