# LLM-Based Config Synthesis requires Disambiguation

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.12443 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.12443/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 15 of its 28 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 16 Jul 2025.

## Builds on (most cited first, 15 of 15)

- [Self-RAG: Learning to Retrieve, Generate, and Critique through Self-Reflection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.11511/) (2023)
- [From Local to Global: A Graph RAG Approach to Query-Focused Summarization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.16130/) (2024)
- [Agentic Retrieval-Augmented Generation: A Survey on Agentic RAG](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2501.09136/) (2025)
- [We're Afraid Language Models Aren't Modeling Ambiguity](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.14399/) (2023)
- [Speculative RAG: Enhancing Retrieval Augmented Generation through Drafting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.08223/) (2024)
- [Clover: Closed-Loop Verifiable Code Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.17807/) (2023)
- [Modular RAG: Transforming RAG Systems into LEGO-like Reconfigurable Frameworks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.21059/) (2024)
- [AlphaVerus: Bootstrapping Formally Verified Code Generation through Self-Improving Translation and Treefinement](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.06176/) (2024)
- [QualityFlow: An Agentic Workflow for Program Synthesis Controlled by LLM Quality Checks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2501.17167/) (2025)
- [Making Network Configuration Human Friendly](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.06342/) (2023)
- [To Know or Not To Know? Analyzing Self-Consistency of Large Language Models under Ambiguity](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.17125/) (2024)
- [GeNet: A Multimodal LLM-Based Co-Pilot for Network Topology and Configuration](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.08249/) (2024)
- [PreConfig: A Pretrained Model for Automating Network Configuration](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.09369/) (2024)
- [Network-wide Configuration Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1611.02537/) (2016)
- [LIGHTYEAR: Using Modularity to Scale BGP Control Plane Verification](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2204.09635/) (2022)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Beyond hallucinations, another problem in program synthesis using LLMs is ambiguity in user intent. We illustrate the ambiguity problem in a networking context for LLM-based incremental configuration synthesis of route-maps and ACLs. These structures frequently overlap in header space, making the relative priority of actions impossible for the LLM to infer without user interaction. Measurements in a large cloud identify complex ACLs with 100's of overlaps, showing ambiguity is a real problem. We propose a prototype system, Clarify, which uses an LLM augmented with a new module called a Disambiguator that helps elicit user intent. On a small synthetic workload, Clarify incrementally synthesizes routing policies after disambiguation and then verifies them. Our treatment of ambiguities is useful more generally when the intent of updates can be correctly synthesized by LLMs, but their integration is ambiguous and can lead to different global behaviors.