# THOR: Transformer Heuristics for On-Demand Retrieval

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.09592 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.09592/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 5 of its 8 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 13 Jul 2025.

## Builds on (most cited first, 5 of 5)

- [Spider: A Large-Scale Human-Labeled Dataset for Complex and Cross-Domain Semantic Parsing and Text-to-SQL Task](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1809.08887/) (2018)
- [Seq2SQL: Generating Structured Queries from Natural Language using Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1709.00103/) (2017)
- [RAT-SQL: Relation-Aware Schema Encoding and Linking for Text-to-SQL Parsers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1911.04942/) (2019)
- [PICARD: Parsing Incrementally for Constrained Auto-Regressive Decoding from Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2109.05093/) (2021)
- [SQLNet: Generating Structured Queries From Natural Language Without Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1711.04436/) (2017)

## Abstract (arXiv)

We introduce the THOR (Transformer Heuristics for On-Demand Retrieval) Module, designed and implemented by eSapiens, a secure, scalable engine that transforms natural-language questions into verified, read-only SQL analytics for enterprise databases. The Text-to-SQL module follows a decoupled orchestration/execution architecture: a Supervisor Agent routes queries, Schema Retrieval dynamically injects table and column metadata, and a SQL Generation Agent emits single-statement SELECT queries protected by a read-only guardrail. An integrated Self-Correction & Rating loop captures empty results, execution errors, or low-quality outputs and triggers up to five LLM-driven regeneration attempts. Finally, a Result Interpretation Agent produces concise, human-readable insights and hands raw rows to the Insight & Intelligence engine for visualization or forecasting. Smoke tests across finance, sales, and operations scenarios demonstrate reliable ad-hoc querying and automated periodic reporting. By embedding schema awareness, fault-tolerant execution, and compliance guardrails, the THOR Module empowers non-technical users to access live data with zero-SQL simplicity and enterprise-grade safety.