# Loc2Repair: A Framework for Evaluating the Impact of File-Level Issue Localization in Repo-Level LLM Repair

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.30963 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.30963/

## Key facts

- Cited by 3 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 21 of its 29 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 29 Jun 2026.

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

- [SWE-bench: Can Language Models Resolve Real-World GitHub Issues?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.06770/) (2023)
- [SWE-agent: Agent-Computer Interfaces Enable Automated Software Engineering](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.15793/) (2024)
- [OpenHands: An Open Platform for AI Software Developers as Generalist Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.16741/) (2024)
- [AutoCodeRover: Autonomous Program Improvement](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.05427/) (2024)
- [RepairAgent: An Autonomous, LLM-Based Agent for Program Repair](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.17134/) (2024)
- [LocAgent: Graph-Guided LLM Agents for Code Localization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.09089/) (2025)
- [SWE-PolyBench: A multi-language benchmark for repository level evaluation of coding agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.08703/) (2025)
- [OrcaLoca: An LLM Agent Framework for Software Issue Localization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.00350/) (2025)
- [A Deep Dive into Large Language Models for Automated Bug Localization and Repair](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.11595/) (2024)
- [UniDebugger: Hierarchical Multi-Agent Framework for Unified Software Debugging](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.17153/) (2024)
- [EXPEREPAIR: Dual-Memory Enhanced LLM-based Repository-Level Program Repair](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.10484/) (2025)
- [ThinkRepair: Self-Directed Automated Program Repair](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.20898/) (2024)
- [SWE-Synth: Synthesizing Verifiable Bug-Fix Data to Enable Large Language Models in Resolving Real-World Bugs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.14757/) (2025)
- [SweRank: Software Issue Localization with Code Ranking](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.07849/) (2025)
- [SGAgent: Suggestion-Guided LLM-Based Multi-Agent Framework for Repository-Level Software Repair](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.23647/) (2026)
- [When Deep Learning Meets Information Retrieval-based Bug Localization: A Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.00144/) (2025)
- [RepoDebug: Repository-Level Multi-Task and Multi-Language Debugging Evaluation of Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.04078/) (2025)
- [Integrating Various Software Artifacts for Better LLM-based Bug Localization and Program Repair](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.03905/) (2024)
- [Gotta catch 'em all! Towards File Localisation from Issues at Large](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.18319/) (2025)
- [Optimizing LLM Code Suggestions: Feedback-Driven Timing with Lightweight State Bounds](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2511.18842/) (2025)
- [Pre-Filtering Code Suggestions using Developer Behavioral Telemetry to Optimize LLM-Assisted Programming](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2511.18849/) (2025)

## Built on by (most cited first, 3 of 3)

- [To Add Is Machine, To Delete Is Human: Measuring and Mitigating Deletion Avoidance in LLM Code Editing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.28887/) (2026)
- [Cost-Effective Repository Exploration for Agentic Issue Localization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.29675/) (2026)
- [Does Fault Localization Beat a Fresh Attempt? A Placebo-Controlled Study of Test-Guided Code Repair](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.00854/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Repository-grounded automated repair is often reported as a single end-to-end capability, which hides distinct failure modes such as poor file targeting, incorrect patch synthesis, and failed iterative debugging. We present Loc2Repair, a modular evaluation framework for controlled analysis of repository-grounded repair pipelines, and use it to isolate file-level issue localization as an upstream variable. Loc2Repair decouples localization and repair under a shared runtime, artifact schema, and evaluation harness, allowing researchers to combine different localization models and repair backbones under matched conditions. Using three repair backbones on SWE-bench Verified, we compare baseline repair without explicit localization, repair guided by predicted localization from two localizers, and repair guided by gold modified-file sets. Explicit localization consistently improves resolved rate across all backbones: pooled performance increases from 44.7% for baseline repair to 48.9% and 49.1% with predicted localization, and to 52.4% with gold localization. Localization also reduces mean elapsed time overall: in pooled paired analysis, mean elapsed time decreases by 100.94 s and 52.25 s for the two predicted-localization settings, and by 154.45 s with gold guidance, although token effects remain heterogeneous across models. Overall, Loc2Repair shows file-level localization is a consistent repair lever, improving effectiveness and mean latency in pooled analysis, while gold-guided failures expose headroom beyond localization.