O-Researcher: An Open Ended Deep Research Model via Multi-Agent Distillation and Agentic RL
On the map: LLM agents and tool use → Web, search, and research agents
Abstract (arXiv)
The performance gap between closed-source and open-source large language models (LLMs) is largely attributed to disparities in access to high-quality training data. To bridge this gap, we introduce a novel framework for the automated synthesis of sophisticated, research-grade instructional data. Our approach centers on a multi-agent workflow where collaborative AI agents simulate complex tool-integrated reasoning to generate diverse and high-fidelity data end-to-end. Leveraging this synthesized data, we develop a two-stage training strategy that integrates supervised fine-tuning with a novel reinforcement learning method, designed to maximize model alignment and capability. Extensive experiments demonstrate that our framework empowers open-source models across multiple scales, enabling them to achieve new state-of-the-art performance on the major deep research benchmark. This work provides a scalable and effective pathway for advancing open-source LLMs without relying on proprietary data or models.
Key facts. Cited by 11 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026). Placed in Web, search, and research agents, one of 16 directions in LLM agents and tool use. Builds on 33 of its 53 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 7 Jan 2026.
Builds on
33 of 53 references.
Closest ancestors · 9
Same direction, newest first
- 2025MiroThinker: Pushing the Performance Boundaries of Open-Source Research Agents via Model, Context, and Interactive Scaling14 Nov
- 2025Tongyi DeepResearch Technical Report28 Oct
- 2025Flash-Searcher: Fast and Effective Web Agents via DAG-Based Parallel Execution29 Sep
- 2025Towards Personalized Deep Research: Benchmarks and Evaluations29 Sep
- 2025WebSailor-V2: Bridging the Chasm to Proprietary Agents via Synthetic Data and Scalable Reinforcement Learning16 Sep
- 2025WebSailor: Navigating Super-human Reasoning for Web Agent3 Jul
- 2025DeepResearch Bench: A Comprehensive Benchmark for Deep Research Agents13 Jun
- 2025WebDancer: Towards Autonomous Information Seeking Agency28 May
- 2025DeepResearchGym: A Free, Transparent, and Reproducible Evaluation Sandbox for Deep Research25 May
Other references · 24
- 2017Proximal Policy Optimization Algorithmscited by 15,215
- 2024The Llama 3 Herd of Modelscited by 14,715
- 2023Direct Preference Optimization: Your Language Model is Secretly a Reward Modelcited by 8,065
- 2024Qwen2.5 Technical Reportcited by 4,942
- 2022Training a Helpful and Harmless Assistant with Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedbackcited by 3,720
- 2022Constitutional AI: Harmlessness from AI Feedbackcited by 3,050
- 2024Scaling LLM Test-Time Compute Optimally can be More Effective than Scaling Model Parameterscited by 1,986
- 2022Red Teaming Language Models to Reduce Harms: Methods, Scaling Behaviors, and Lessons Learnedcited by 729
- 2024Self-Rewarding Language Modelscited by 681
- 2024Magpie: Alignment Data Synthesis from Scratch by Prompting Aligned LLMs with Nothingcited by 346
- 2025WebThinker: Empowering Large Reasoning Models with Deep Research Capabilitycited by 335
- 2025DeepResearcher: Scaling Deep Research via Reinforcement Learning in Real-world Environmentscited by 286
12 more
- 2023The False Promise of Imitating Proprietary LLMscited by 263
- 2023Auto-GPT for Online Decision Making: Benchmarks and Additional Opinionscited by 255
- 2024More Agents Is All You Needcited by 180
- 2024Assisting in Writing Wikipedia-like Articles From Scratch with Large Language Modelscited by 154
- 2023Agents: An Open-source Framework for Autonomous Language Agentscited by 116
- 2024Symbolic Learning Enables Self-Evolving Agentscited by 106
- 2025Chain-of-Agents: End-to-End Agent Foundation Models via Multi-Agent Distillation and Agentic RLcited by 80
- 2023Automating Customer Service using LangChain: Building custom open-source GPT Chatbot for organizationscited by 61
- 2025WebWeaver: Structuring Web-Scale Evidence with Dynamic Outlines for Open-Ended Deep Researchcited by 46
- 2025OAgents: An Empirical Study of Building Effective Agentscited by 29
- 2025Multimodal DeepResearcher: Generating Text-Chart Interleaved Reports From Scratch with Agentic Frameworkcited by 21
- 2025WebLeaper: Empowering Efficiency and Efficacy in WebAgent via Enabling Info-Rich Seekingcited by 18
Built on by
Citing papers per year: 2026: 11.
11 papers.
- 2026SOD: Step-wise On-policy Distillation for Small Language Model Agentscited by 21
- 2026VisBrowse-Bench: Benchmarking Visual-Native Search for Multimodal Browsing Agentscited by 13
- 2026AI for Auto-Research: Roadmap & User Guidecited by 11
- 2026Agentic Environment Engineering for Large Language Models: A Survey of Environment Modeling, Synthesis, Evaluation, and Applicationcited by 8
- 2026A-MapReduce: Executing Wide Search via Agentic MapReducecited by 5
- 2026Search More, Think Less: Rethinking Long-Horizon Agentic Search for Efficiency and Generalizationcited by 5
- 2026S1-DeepResearch: Beyond Search, Toward Real-World Long-Horizon Research Agentscited by 5
- 2026GenRubric: Self-Evolving Rubric Generation for Scalable LLM Evaluationcited by 5
- 2026SearchMaster: Grounded and Regulated Self-Play for Search Agentscited by 3
- 2026Towards Knowledgeable Deep Research: Framework and Benchmarkcited by 1
- 2026F2DR: A Fine-Grained Full-Pipeline Reward Framework for DeepSearch Workflowscited by 0
- 2026F2DR: A Fine-Grained Full-Pipeline Reward Framework for DeepSearch Workflows17 Sep 2026
- 2026GenRubric: Self-Evolving Rubric Generation for Scalable LLM Evaluation30 Aug 2026
- 2026SearchMaster: Grounded and Regulated Self-Play for Search Agents3 Aug 2026
- 2026S1-DeepResearch: Beyond Search, Toward Real-World Long-Horizon Research Agents13 Jun 2026
- 2026Agentic Environment Engineering for Large Language Models: A Survey of Environment Modeling, Synthesis, Evaluation, and Application10 Jun 2026
- 2026AI for Auto-Research: Roadmap & User Guide18 May 2026
- 2026SOD: Step-wise On-policy Distillation for Small Language Model Agents8 May 2026
- 2026Towards Knowledgeable Deep Research: Framework and Benchmark9 Apr 2026
- 2026VisBrowse-Bench: Benchmarking Visual-Native Search for Multimodal Browsing Agents17 Mar 2026
- 2026Search More, Think Less: Rethinking Long-Horizon Agentic Search for Efficiency and Generalization26 Feb 2026
- 2026A-MapReduce: Executing Wide Search via Agentic MapReduce1 Feb 2026
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