# MA-IDS: Multi-Agent RAG Framework for IoT Network Intrusion Detection with an Experience Library

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.05458 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.05458/

## Key facts

- Cited by 2 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Placed in Agent threats, guardrails and governance, one of 16 directions in LLM agents and tool use.
- Builds on 5 of its 31 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 7 Apr 2026.

## Placed in

- LLM agents and tool use / [Agent threats, guardrails and governance](https://mlsanity.com/agents/agent-threats-guardrails-and-governance/)

## Builds on (most cited first, 5 of 5)

- [Large Language Models in Wireless Application Design: In-Context Learning-enhanced Automatic Network Intrusion Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.11002/) (2024)
- [Machine Learning Based Intrusion Detection Systems for IoT Applications](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.12452/) (2023)
- [Large Language Models for Network Intrusion Detection Systems: Foundations, Implementations, and Future Directions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.04752/) (2025)
- [NetMoniAI: An Agentic AI Framework for Network Security & Monitoring](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.10052/) (2025)
- [Deep Learning-based Intrusion Detection Systems: A Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.07839/) (2025)

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

- [Semantic Multi-Agent Intrusion Detection for IoT:Zero-Day and Adversarial Threats with Risk-Aware Reasoning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.10323/) (2026)
- [Defending Retrieval-Augmented Intrusion Detection Against Knowledge Poisoning and Prompt Injection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.08100/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Network Intrusion Detection Systems (NIDS) face important limitations. Signature-based methods are effective for known attack patterns, but they struggle to detect zero-day attacks and often miss modified variants of previously known attacks, while many machine learning approaches offer limited interpretability. These challenges become even more severe in IoT environments because of resource constraints and heterogeneous protocols. To address these issues, we propose MA-IDS, a Multi-Agent Intrusion Detection System that combines Large Language Models (LLMs) with Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) for reasoning-driven intrusion detection. The proposed framework grounds LLM reasoning through a persistent, self-building Experience Library. Two specialized agents collaborate through a FAISS-based vector database: a Traffic Classification Agent that retrieves past error rules before each inference, and an Error Analysis Agent that converts misclassifications into human-readable detection rules stored for future retrieval, enabling continual learning through external knowledge accumulation, without modifying the underlying language model. Evaluated on NF-BoT-IoT and NF-ToN-IoT benchmark datasets, MA-IDS achieves Macro F1-Scores of 89.75% and 85.22%, improving over zero-shot baselines of 17% and 4.96% by more than 72 and 80 percentage points. These results are competitive with SVM while providing rule-level explanations for every classification decision, demonstrating that retrieval-augmented reasoning offers a principled path toward explainable, self-improving intrusion detection for IoT networks.