Think Only When You Need with Large Hybrid-Reasoning Models
On the map: LLM reasoning → Test-time compute and efficient thinking
Abstract (arXiv)
Recent Large Reasoning Models (LRMs) have shown substantially improved reasoning capabilities over traditional Large Language Models (LLMs) by incorporating extended thinking processes prior to producing final responses. However, excessively lengthy thinking introduces substantial overhead in terms of token consumption and latency, which is particularly unnecessary for simple queries. In this work, we introduce Large Hybrid-Reasoning Models (LHRMs), the first kind of model capable of adaptively determining whether to perform thinking based on the contextual information of user queries. To achieve this, we propose a two-stage training pipeline comprising Hybrid Fine-Tuning (HFT) as a cold start, followed by online reinforcement learning with the proposed Hybrid Group Policy Optimization (HGPO) to implicitly learn to select the appropriate thinking mode. Furthermore, we introduce a metric called Hybrid Accuracy to quantitatively assess the model's capability for hybrid thinking. Extensive experimental results show that LHRMs can adaptively perform hybrid thinking on queries of varying difficulty and type. It outperforms existing LRMs and LLMs in reasoning and general capabilities while significantly improving efficiency. Together, our work advocates for a reconsideration of the appropriate use of extended thinking processes and provides a solid starting point for building hybrid thinking systems.
Key facts. Cited by 66 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026). Placed in Test-time compute and efficient thinking, one of 17 directions in LLM reasoning. Builds on 35 of its 53 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 20 May 2025.
Builds on
35 of 53 references.
Closest ancestors · 4
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Other references · 31
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Citing papers per year: 2025: 30; 2026: 36.
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- 2025Does Thinking More always Help? Mirage of Test-Time Scaling in Reasoning Modelscited by 53
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- 2026CounterRoute: Self-Routed Reasoning via Hierarchical Counterfactual Credit Assignment24 Sep 2026
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- 2026AdaThinking-E: One-Token Entropy Regulation for Adaptive Thinking26 Jun 2026
- 20263SPO: State-Score-Supervised Policy Optimization for LLM Agents8 Jun 2026
- 2026HRBench: Benchmarking and Understanding Thinking-Mode Switch Strategies in Hybrid-Reasoning LLMs27 May 2026
- 2026Efficient Agentic Reasoning Through Self-Regulated Simulative Planning21 May 2026
- 2026When Do LLMs Reason? A Dynamical Systems View via Entropy Phase Transitions20 May 2026
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- 2026When Is Thinking Enough? Early Exit via Sufficiency Assessment for Efficient Reasoning8 Apr 2026
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- 2026Mitigating Overthinking in Large Reasoning Language Models via Reasoning Path Deviation Monitoring15 Mar 2026
- 2026LongFlow: Efficient KV Cache Compression for Reasoning Models12 Mar 2026
- 2026VisRef: Visual Refocusing while Thinking Improves Test-Time Scaling in Multi-Modal Large Reasoning Models27 Feb 2026
- 2026HotelQuEST: Balancing Quality and Efficiency in Agentic Search27 Feb 2026
- 2026Stable Adaptive Thinking via Advantage Shaping and Length-Aware Gradient Regulation26 Feb 2026
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- 2025Can Confidence Estimates Decide When Chain-of-Thought Is Necessary for LLMs?23 Oct 2025
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- 2025Putting on the Thinking Hats: A Survey on Chain of Thought Fine-tuning from the Perspective of Human Reasoning Mechanism15 Oct 2025
- 2025Adaptive Dual Reasoner: Large Reasoning Models Can Think Efficiently by Hybrid Reasoning11 Oct 2025
- 2025PEAR: Phase Entropy Aware Reward for Efficient Reasoning9 Oct 2025
- 2025Test-Time Scaling in Diffusion LLMs via Hidden Semi-Autoregressive Experts6 Oct 2025
- 2025Thinking-Free Policy Initialization Makes Distilled Reasoning Models More Effective and Efficient Reasoners30 Sep 2025
- 2025AdaThink-Med: Optimizing Inference-Time Compute for Medical Reasoning via Uncertainty Quantification29 Sep 2025
- 2025Reinforcement Learning Meets Large Language Models: A Survey of Advancements and Applications Across the LLM Lifecycle20 Sep 2025
- 2025MAS-Bench: A Unified Benchmark for Shortcut-Augmented Hybrid Mobile GUI Agents8 Sep 2025
- 2025Mini-Omni-Reasoner: Token-Level Thinking-in-Speaking in Large Speech Models18 Aug 2025
- 2025Fast, Slow, and Tool-augmented Thinking for LLMs: A Review17 Aug 2025
- 2025SABER: Switchable and Balanced Training for Efficient LLM Reasoning8 Aug 2025
50 newest of 66 All 66 (JSON)
- 2025Does Thinking More always Help? Mirage of Test-Time Scaling in Reasoning Modelscited by 53
- 2025Don't Overthink It: A Survey of Efficient R1-style Large Reasoning Modelscited by 37
- 2025Reasoning on a Budget: A Survey of Adaptive and Controllable Test-Time Compute in LLMscited by 31
- 2025Mini-Omni-Reasoner: Token-Level Thinking-in-Speaking in Large Speech Modelscited by 21
- 2025The Price of a Second Thought: On the Evaluation of Reasoning Efficiency in Large Language Modelscited by 18
- 2025Towards Concise and Adaptive Thinking in Large Reasoning Models: A Surveycited by 18
- 2025MUR: Momentum Uncertainty guided Reasoning for Large Language Modelscited by 17
- 2026Self-Compression of Chain-of-Thought via Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learningcited by 13
- 2025KAT-V1: Kwai-AutoThink Technical Reportcited by 12
- 2025DriveAgent-R1: Advancing VLM-based Autonomous Driving with Active Perception and Hybrid Thinkingcited by 12
- 2025SABER: Switchable and Balanced Training for Efficient LLM Reasoningcited by 12
- 2025Rethinking Chain-of-Thought Reasoning for Videoscited by 9
12 most cited of 56 All 56 (JSON)
- 2026From Candidate Tokens to Final Outcomes: Decoding Relative Long-Horizon Candidate Value from Reasoning Model Representations11 Oct 2026
- 2026The Thinking Leakage in Reinforcement Learning for LLMs9 Oct 2026
- 2026Thinking Inertia: LLMs Keep Thinking When Told Not To8 Oct 2026
- 2026Efficient Reasoning via Constrained Optimization in Latent Space28 Sep 2026
- 2026CounterRoute: Self-Routed Reasoning via Hierarchical Counterfactual Credit Assignment24 Sep 2026
- 2026Construting Reverse Thinking: Developing Large Language Models' Reverse Thingking Ability21 Sep 2026
- 2026ThinkRetrieve: Retrieval-Augmented Reasoning Traces for Test-Time Scaling11 Aug 2026
- 2026AdaThinking-E: One-Token Entropy Regulation for Adaptive Thinking26 Jun 2026
- 2026HRBench: Benchmarking and Understanding Thinking-Mode Switch Strategies in Hybrid-Reasoning LLMs27 May 2026
- 2026When Do LLMs Reason? A Dynamical Systems View via Entropy Phase Transitions20 May 2026
- 2026Post-Reasoning: Improving the Performance of Non-Thinking Models at No Cost7 May 2026
- 2026When to Think, When to Speak: Learning Disclosure Policies for LLM Reasoning5 May 2026
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- 2025Reinforcement Learning Meets Large Language Models: A Survey of Advancements and Applications Across the LLM Lifecycle20 Sep 2025
- 2025Matching Game Preferences Through Dialogical Large Language Models: A Perspective26 Jul 2025
- 2025Schema-R1: A reasoning training approach for schema linking in Text-to-SQL Task13 Jun 2025
- 2025Reinforcement Pre-Training9 Jun 2025
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