Step-GUI Technical Report
On the map: LLM agents and tool use → GUI and mobile agents
Abstract (arXiv)
Recent advances in multimodal large language models unlock unprecedented opportunities for GUI automation. However, a fundamental challenge remains: how to efficiently acquire high-quality training data while maintaining annotation reliability? We introduce a self-evolving training pipeline powered by the Calibrated Step Reward System, which converts model-generated trajectories into reliable training signals through trajectory-level calibration, achieving >90% annotation accuracy with 10-100x lower cost. Leveraging this pipeline, we introduce Step-GUI, a family of models (4B/8B) that achieves state-of-the-art GUI performance (8B: 80.2% AndroidWorld, 48.5% OSWorld, 62.6% ScreenShot-Pro) while maintaining robust general capabilities. As GUI agent capabilities improve, practical deployment demands standardized interfaces across heterogeneous devices while protecting user privacy. To this end, we propose GUI-MCP, the first Model Context Protocol for GUI automation with hierarchical architecture that combines low-level atomic operations and high-level task delegation to local specialist models, enabling high-privacy execution where sensitive data stays on-device. Finally, to assess whether agents can handle authentic everyday usage, we introduce AndroidDaily, a benchmark grounded in real-world mobile usage patterns with 3146 static actions and 235 end-to-end tasks across high-frequency daily scenarios (8B: static 89.91%, end-to-end 52.50%). Our work advances the development of practical GUI agents and demonstrates strong potential for real-world deployment in everyday digital interactions.
Key facts. Cited by 38 papers in the map (data through 7 Oct 2026). Placed in GUI and mobile agents, one of 16 directions in LLM agents and tool use. Builds on 53 of its 61 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 17 Dec 2025.
Builds on
53 of 61 references.
Closest ancestors · 15
Same direction, newest first
- 2025ScaleCUA: Scaling Open-Source Computer Use Agents with Cross-Platform Data18 Sep
- 2025MobileRL: Online Agentic Reinforcement Learning for Mobile GUI Agents10 Sep
- 2025UI-TARS-2 Technical Report: Advancing GUI Agent with Multi-Turn Reinforcement Learning2 Sep
- 2025UItron: Foundational GUI Agent with Advanced Perception and Planning29 Aug
- 2025Mobile-Agent-v3: Fundamental Agents for GUI Automation21 Aug
- 2025OpenCUA: Open Foundations for Computer-Use Agents12 Aug
- 2025MMBench-GUI: Hierarchical Multi-Platform Evaluation Framework for GUI Agents25 Jul
- 2025ScreenSpot-Pro: GUI Grounding for Professional High-Resolution Computer Use4 Apr
- 2025Agent S2: A Compositional Generalist-Specialist Framework for Computer Use Agents1 Apr
- 2025PC-Agent: A Hierarchical Multi-Agent Collaboration Framework for Complex Task Automation on PC20 Feb
- 2025UI-TARS: Pioneering Automated GUI Interaction with Native Agents21 Jan
- 2024OS-ATLAS: A Foundation Action Model for Generalist GUI Agents30 Oct
3 more
Other references · 38
- 2022Chain-of-Thought Prompting Elicits Reasoning in Large Language Modelscited by 12,302
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- 2023Tree of Thoughts: Deliberate Problem Solving with Large Language Modelscited by 3,155
- 2025Qwen3-VL Technical Reportcited by 2,534
- 2023MMBench: Is Your Multi-modal Model an All-around Player?cited by 2,105
- 2023MathVista: Evaluating Mathematical Reasoning of Foundation Models in Visual Contextscited by 1,582
- 2025InternVL3.5: Advancing Open-Source Multimodal Models in Versatility, Reasoning, and Efficiencycited by 1,419
- 2022STaR: Bootstrapping Reasoning With Reasoningcited by 895
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- 2023Reinforced Self-Training (ReST) for Language Modelingcited by 486
- 2023OCRBench: On the Hidden Mystery of OCR in Large Multimodal Modelscited by 466
- 2023V*: Guided Visual Search as a Core Mechanism in Multimodal LLMscited by 459
- 2024AndroidWorld: A Dynamic Benchmarking Environment for Autonomous Agentscited by 450
- 2025Seed1.5-VL Technical Reportcited by 367
- 2023Android in the Wild: A Large-Scale Dataset for Android Device Controlcited by 314
- 2022Large Language Models are Better Reasoners with Self-Verificationcited by 304
- 2024Quiet-STaR: Language Models Can Teach Themselves to Think Before Speakingcited by 292
- 2024LogicVista: Multimodal LLM Logical Reasoning Benchmark in Visual Contextscited by 240
- 2024Tool Learning with Large Language Models: A Surveycited by 221
- 2023DDCoT: Duty-Distinct Chain-of-Thought Prompting for Multimodal Reasoning in Language Modelscited by 124
- 2024VisualWebBench: How Far Have Multimodal LLMs Evolved in Web Page Understanding and Grounding?cited by 98
- 2021UIBert: Learning Generic Multimodal Representations for UI Understandingcited by 93
- 2022A Dataset for Interactive Vision-Language Navigation with Unknown Command Feasibilitycited by 61
- 2023Synthetic Prompting: Generating Chain-of-Thought Demonstrations for Large Language Modelscited by 61
- 2025SimpleVQA: Multimodal Factuality Evaluation for Multimodal Large Language Modelscited by 61
- 2025UFO2: The Desktop AgentOScited by 38
- 2025PhyX: Does Your Model Have the "Wits" for Physical Reasoning?cited by 37
- 2025CoAct-1: Computer-using Multi-Agent System with Coding Actionscited by 33
- 2025RAG-MCP: Mitigating Prompt Bloat in LLM Tool Selection via Retrieval-Augmented Generationcited by 26
- 2025CE-GPPO: Coordinating Entropy via Gradient-Preserving Clipping Policy Optimization in Reinforcement Learningcited by 23
- 2025AutoGUI: Scaling GUI Grounding with Automatic Functionality Annotations from LLMscited by 18
- 2024Mitigating Hallucinations in Large Language Models via Self-Refinement-Enhanced Knowledge Retrievalcited by 16
- 2025Code2MCP: Transforming Code Repositories into MCP Servicescited by 10
- 2025CoT-RAG: Integrating Chain of Thought and Retrieval-Augmented Generation to Enhance Reasoning in Large Language Modelscited by 8
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Citing papers per year: 2025: 1; 2026: 37.
38 papers.
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By area:
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- 2026MATE: Policy-Aware Security Auditing for Mobile Agents via Synthesis-Driven Trajectory Learning19 Sep 2026
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- 2026EvoCUA-1.5: Online Reinforcement Learning for Multi-turn Computer-Use Agents7 Jul 2026
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- 2026MobileForge: Annotation-Free Adaptation for Mobile GUI Agents with Hierarchical Feedback-Guided Policy Optimization18 Jun 2026
- 2026AndroidDaily: A Verifiable Benchmark for Mobile GUI Agents on Real-World Closed-Source Applications26 May 2026
- 2026MementoGUI: Learning Agentic Multimodal Memory Control for Long-Horizon GUI Agents18 May 2026
- 2026DocOS: Towards Proactive Document-Guided Actions in GUI Agents18 May 2026
- 2026Video2GUI: Synthesizing Large-Scale Interaction Trajectories for Generalized GUI Agent Pretraining14 May 2026
- 2026ToolCUA: Towards Optimal GUI-Tool Path Orchestration for Computer Use Agents12 May 2026
- 2026Securing Computer-Use Agents: A Unified Architecture-Lifecycle Framework for Deployment-Grounded Reliability8 May 2026
- 2026GUI Agents with Reinforcement Learning: Toward Digital Inhabitants30 Apr 2026
- 2026OpenMobile: Building Open Mobile Agents with Task and Trajectory Synthesis16 Apr 2026
- 2026KnowU-Bench: Towards Interactive, Proactive, and Personalized Mobile Agent Evaluation9 Apr 2026
- 2026UI-Voyager: A Self-Evolving GUI Agent Learning via Failed Experience25 Mar 2026
- 2026DM0: An Embodied-Native Vision-Language-Action Model towards Physical AI16 Feb 2026
- 2026Mobile-Agent-v3.5: Multi-platform Fundamental GUI Agents15 Feb 2026
- 2026UI-Venus-1.5 Technical Report9 Feb 2026
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- 2026Agentic Reward Modeling: Verifying GUI Agent via Progressive Trajectory-Grounded Interaction31 Jan 2026
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- 2026Mobile-Agent-v3.5: Multi-platform Fundamental GUI Agentscited by 72
- 2026EvoCUA: Evolving Computer Use Agents via Learning from Scalable Synthetic Experiencecited by 51
- 2026UI-Venus-1.5 Technical Reportcited by 39
- 2026KnowU-Bench: Towards Interactive, Proactive, and Personalized Mobile Agent Evaluationcited by 19
- 2026OmegaUse: Building a General-Purpose GUI Agent for Autonomous Task Executioncited by 13
- 2026UI-Mem: Self-Evolving Experience Memory for Online Reinforcement Learning in Mobile GUI Agentscited by 11
- 2026UI-Voyager: A Self-Evolving GUI Agent Learning via Failed Experiencecited by 11
- 2026OpenMobile: Building Open Mobile Agents with Task and Trajectory Synthesiscited by 10
- 2026ToolCUA: Towards Optimal GUI-Tool Path Orchestration for Computer Use Agentscited by 10
- 2026MementoGUI: Learning Agentic Multimodal Memory Control for Long-Horizon GUI Agentscited by 9
- 2026AndroidDaily: A Verifiable Benchmark for Mobile GUI Agents on Real-World Closed-Source Applicationscited by 8
12 most cited of 31 All 31 (JSON)
- 2026ComputerSD: Online Self-Distillation from Real-Time Feedback for Computer-Use Agents30 Sep 2026
- 2026From Tapping to Hopping: Augmenting Mobile GUI Agents with App-Native Deeplinks25 Sep 2026
- 2026MATE: Policy-Aware Security Auditing for Mobile Agents via Synthesis-Driven Trajectory Learning19 Sep 2026
- 2026BlueLM-GUI Technical Report: A Real-Device-Centric Flywheel for Self-Improving Mobile GUI Agents11 Sep 2026
- 2026LLaDA-UI: Bringing Block-wise Diffusion to Vision-Language GUI Agents9 Sep 2026
- 2026UI-Venus-2 Technical Report27 Aug 2026
- 2026The Next Screenshot Knows: Gated Hindsight Distillation for Mobile GUI Agents6 Aug 2026
- 2026Qwen-UI-Agent Technical Report: Toward Next-Generation Real-World Centric Foundation GUI Agents30 Jul 2026
- 2026EvoCUA-1.5: Online Reinforcement Learning for Multi-turn Computer-Use Agents7 Jul 2026
- 2026UI-MOPD: Multi-Platform On-Policy Distillation for Unified GUI Agents5 Jul 2026
- 2026What Memory Do GUI Agents Really Need? From Passive Records to Active Task-Driving States30 Jun 2026
- 2026Xiaomi-GUI-0 Technical Report30 Jun 2026
12 newest of 31 All 31 (JSON)
- 2026STEP3-VL-10B Technical Reportcited by 28
- 2026POINTS-GUI-G: GUI-Grounding Journeycited by 3
- 2026Learning from Reliable Negatives: Confidence-Anchored Test-Time Adaptation for GUI Groundingcited by 0
- 2026GameHorizon Suite: Multi-Horizon Data and Evaluation in Gameplaycited by 0
- 2026GameHorizon Suite: Multi-Horizon Data and Evaluation in Gameplay21 Sep 2026
- 2026Learning from Reliable Negatives: Confidence-Anchored Test-Time Adaptation for GUI Grounding14 Sep 2026
- 2026POINTS-GUI-G: GUI-Grounding Journey6 Feb 2026
- 2026STEP3-VL-10B Technical Report14 Jan 2026
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