# PseudoAct: Leveraging Pseudocode Synthesis for Flexible Planning and Action Control in Large Language Model Agents

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.23668 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.23668/

## Key facts

- Cited by 2 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Placed in General LLM agent frameworks and benchmarks, one of 16 directions in LLM agents and tool use.
- Builds on 21 of its 28 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 27 Feb 2026.

## Placed in

- LLM agents and tool use / [General LLM agent frameworks and benchmarks](https://mlsanity.com/agents/general-llm-agent-frameworks-and-benchmarks/)

## Builds on (most cited first, 21 of 21)

- [Chain-of-Thought Prompting Elicits Reasoning in Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2201.11903/) (2022)
- [ReAct: Synergizing Reasoning and Acting in Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.03629/) (2022)
- [HotpotQA: A Dataset for Diverse, Explainable Multi-hop Question Answering](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1809.09600/) (2018)
- [ToolLLM: Facilitating Large Language Models to Master 16000+ Real-world APIs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.16789/) (2023)
- [FEVER: a large-scale dataset for Fact Extraction and VERification](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1803.05355/) (2018)
- [Plan-and-Act: Improving Planning of Agents for Long-Horizon Tasks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.09572/) (2025)
- [Chain of Code: Reasoning with a Language Model-Augmented Code Emulator](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.04474/) (2023)
- [SPIRAL: Self-Play on Zero-Sum Games Incentivizes Reasoning via Multi-Agent Multi-Turn Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.24119/) (2025)
- [ReST meets ReAct: Self-Improvement for Multi-Step Reasoning LLM Agent](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.10003/) (2023)
- [Agent Planning with World Knowledge Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.14205/) (2024)
- [CodexGraph: Bridging Large Language Models and Code Repositories via Code Graph Databases](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.03910/) (2024)
- [Reinforcement Learning for Selective Key Applications in Power Systems: Recent Advances and Future Challenges](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.01168/) (2021)
- [Reducing Cost of LLM Agents with Trajectory Reduction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.23586/) (2025)
- [Can Graph Learning Improve Planning in LLM-based Agents?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.19119/) (2024)
- [RefactorBench: Evaluating Stateful Reasoning in Language Agents Through Code](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.07832/) (2025)
- [Reinforce LLM Reasoning through Multi-Agent Reflection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.08379/) (2025)
- [Self-Generated In-Context Examples Improve LLM Agents for Sequential Decision-Making Tasks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.00234/) (2025)
- [Conformal Language Model Reasoning with Coherent Factuality](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.17126/) (2025)
- [X-GridAgent: An LLM-Powered Agentic AI System for Assisting Power Grid Analysis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.20789/) (2025)
- [Geometry of Decision Making in Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2511.20315/) (2025)
- [HiPO: Hybrid Policy Optimization for Dynamic Reasoning in LLMs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.23967/) (2025)

## Built on by (most cited first, 2 of 2)

- [AgentSPEX: An Agent SPecification and EXecution Language](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.13346/) (2026)
- [Should SLMs be in the Driver's Seat? A Study of Local Models as Interpreters in Cloud-Written Agent Programs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2610.14209/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Large language model (LLM) agents typically rely on reactive decision-making paradigms such as ReAct, selecting actions conditioned on growing execution histories. While effective for short tasks, these approaches often lead to redundant tool usage, unstable reasoning, and high token consumption in complex long-horizon tasks involving branching, iteration, or multi-tool coordination. To address these limitations, this paper introduces PseudoAct, a novel framework for flexible planning and action control in LLM agents through pseudocode synthesis. Leveraging the ability of LLMs to express task-solving strategies as code, PseudoAct synthesizes a structured pseudocode plan that decomposes a task into subtasks and explicitly encodes control flow, including sequencing, conditionals, loops, parallel composition, and combinations of these logic primitives. Actions are then executed by following this global plan, making the decision logic explicit and temporally coherent. This design reduces redundant actions, prevents infinite loops, and avoids uninformative alternative exploration, enabling consistent and efficient long-horizon decision-making. Experiments on benchmark datasets show that our method significantly outperforms existing reactive agent approaches, achieving a 20.93% absolute gain in success rate on FEVER and setting a new state-of-the-art on HotpotQA.