mlsanityData to 14 Oct 2026

JudgeFlow: Agentic Workflow Optimization via Block Judge

arXiv 2601.07477 ↗First posted 12 Jan 2026cs.AIcited by 3

On the map: LLM agents and tool use → Software engineering coding agents

Abstract (arXiv)

Optimizing LLM-based agentic workflows is challenging for scaling AI capabilities. Current methods rely on coarse, end-to-end evaluation signals and lack fine-grained signals on where to refine, often resulting in inefficient or low-impact modifications. To address these limitations, we propose JudgeFlow, an Evaluation-Judge-Optimization-Update pipeline. We incorporate reusable, configurable logic blocks into agentic workflows to capture fundamental forms of logic. On top of this abstraction, we design a dedicated Judge module that inspects execution traces particularly failed runs and assigns rank-based responsibility scores to problematic blocks. These fine-grained diagnostic signals are then leveraged by an LLM-based optimizer, which focuses modifications on the most problematic block in the workflow. Our approach improves sample efficiency, enhances interpretability through block-level diagnostics, and provides a scalable foundation for automating increasingly complex agentic workflows. We evaluate JudgeFlow on mathematical reasoning and code generation benchmarks, where JudgeFlow achieves superior performance and efficiency compared to existing methods.

Key facts. Cited by 3 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026). Placed in Software engineering coding agents, one of 16 directions in LLM agents and tool use. Builds on 53 of its 62 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 12 Jan 2026.

Builds on

53 of 62 references.

Closest ancestors · 5

Same direction, newest first

  1. 2025MermaidFlow: Redefining Agentic Workflow Generation via Safety-Constrained Evolutionary Programming29 May
  2. 2025Which Agent Causes Task Failures and When? On Automated Failure Attribution of LLM Multi-Agent Systems30 Apr
  3. 2025DebFlow: Automating Agent Creation via Agent Debate31 Mar
  4. 2024AFlow: Automating Agentic Workflow Generation14 Oct
  5. 2023AutoGen: Enabling Next-Gen LLM Applications via Multi-Agent Conversation16 Aug

Other references · 48

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  6. 2023Direct Preference Optimization: Your Language Model is Secretly a Reward Modelcited by 8,065
  7. 2020Scaling Laws for Neural Language Modelscited by 6,586
  8. 2022Self-Consistency Improves Chain of Thought Reasoning in Language Modelscited by 5,708
  9. 2021Measuring Mathematical Problem Solving With the MATH Datasetcited by 5,371
  10. 2018HotpotQA: A Dataset for Diverse, Explainable Multi-hop Question Answeringcited by 3,754
  11. 2021Program Synthesis with Large Language Modelscited by 3,637
  12. 2023Self-Refine: Iterative Refinement with Self-Feedbackcited by 3,442
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  4. 2023Improving Factuality and Reasoning in Language Models through Multiagent Debatecited by 1,784
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  10. 2023LLM-Blender: Ensembling Large Language Models with Pairwise Ranking and Generative Fusioncited by 564
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  14. 2024Understanding the planning of LLM agents: A surveycited by 421
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  18. 2023Unleashing the Emergent Cognitive Synergy in Large Language Models: A Task-Solving Agent through Multi-Persona Self-Collaborationcited by 251
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  20. 2024Agent Q: Advanced Reasoning and Learning for Autonomous AI Agentscited by 208
  21. 2025Multi-agent Architecture Search via Agentic Supernetcited by 179
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  23. 2024Aligning with Human Judgement: The Role of Pairwise Preference in Large Language Model Evaluatorscited by 149
  24. 2025Advances and Challenges in Foundation Agents: From Brain-Inspired Intelligence to Evolutionary, Collaborative, and Safe Systemscited by 126
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  27. 2024AvaTaR: Optimizing LLM Agents for Tool Usage via Contrastive Reasoningcited by 72
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  36. 2025Compound AI Systems Optimization: A Survey of Methods, Challenges, and Future Directionscited by 4

Built on by

Cited by year (2026 to 14 Oct)

Citing papers per year: 2026: 3.

3 papers.

Similar, not cited

Close in wording, no citation either way

  1. 2026AgentJudgeBench: A Multi-Difficulty Benchmark for Evaluating LLM Judges on Agentic Tool-Calling
  2. 2026Global Optimization and Inference-Time Region Grafting for Agentic Workflows
  3. 2026Learning to Compose for Cross-domain Agentic Workflow Generation
  4. 2026Optimizing Agentic Workflows using Meta-tools
  5. 2026AgentFactory: Towards Automated Agentic System Design and Optimization
  6. 2025DyFlow: Dynamic Workflow Framework for Agentic Reasoning
  7. 2025Helpful Agent Meets Deceptive Judge: Understanding Vulnerabilities in Agentic Workflows
  8. 2026GraphBit: A Graph-based Agentic Framework for Non-Linear Agent Orchestration