Code-Space Response Oracles: Generating Interpretable Multi-Agent Policies with Large Language Models
On the map: LLM agents and tool use → Reinforcement learning for LLM agents
Abstract (arXiv)
Recent advances in multi-agent reinforcement learning, particularly Policy-Space Response Oracles (PSRO), have enabled the computation of approximate game-theoretic equilibria in increasingly complex domains. However, these methods rely on deep reinforcement learning oracles that produce `black-box' neural network policies, making them difficult to interpret, trust or debug. We introduce Code-Space Response Oracles (CSRO), a novel framework that addresses this challenge by replacing RL oracles with Large Language Models (LLMs). CSRO reframes the best response computation as a code generation task, prompting an LLM to generate policies directly as human-readable code. This approach not only yields inherently interpretable policies but also leverages the LLM's pretrained knowledge to discover complex, human-like strategies. We explore multiple ways to construct and enhance an LLM-based oracle: zero-shot prompting, iterative refinement and AlphaEvolve, a distributed LLM-based evolutionary system. We demonstrate that CSRO achieves performance competitive with baselines while producing a diverse set of explainable policies. Our work presents a new perspective on multi-agent learning, shifting the focus from optimizing opaque policy parameters to synthesizing interpretable algorithmic behavior.
Key facts. Cited by 2 papers in the map (data through 7 Oct 2026). Placed in Reinforcement learning for LLM agents, one of 16 directions in LLM agents and tool use. Builds on 11 of its 36 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 10 Mar 2026.
Builds on
11 of 36 references.
References · 11
- 2017Proximal Policy Optimization Algorithmscited by 14,441
- 2022Training Compute-Optimal Large Language Modelscited by 2,927
- 2018IMPALA: Scalable Distributed Deep-RL with Importance Weighted Actor-Learner Architecturescited by 866
- 2017A Unified Game-Theoretic Approach to Multiagent Reinforcement Learningcited by 265
- 2019OpenSpiel: A Framework for Reinforcement Learning in Gamescited by 180
- 2014Solving Large Imperfect Information Games Using CFR+cited by 78
- 2019α-Rank: Multi-Agent Evaluation by Evolutioncited by 50
- 2020Pipeline PSRO: A Scalable Approach for Finding Approximate Nash Equilibria in Large Gamescited by 47
- 2024Steering Language Models with Game-Theoretic Solverscited by 28
- 2024Policy Space Response Oracles: A Surveycited by 10
- 2023Population-based Evaluation in Repeated Rock-Paper-Scissors as a Benchmark for Multiagent Reinforcement Learningcited by 5
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Citing papers per year: 2026: 2.
2 papers.
Similar, not cited
Close in wording, no citation either way
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- 2025RAGEN: Understanding Self-Evolution in LLM Agents via Multi-Turn Reinforcement Learning
- 2026World Models for Policy Refinement in StarCraft II
- 2025Learning Game-Playing Agents with Generative Code Optimization
- 2026GUIDE: Guided Updates for In-context Decision Evolution in LLM-Driven Spacecraft Operations
- 2025Prompted Policy Search: Reinforcement Learning through Linguistic and Numerical Reasoning in LLMs
- 2026LLM-ALSO: LLM-Driven Adaptive Learning-Signal Optimization for Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning