GATS: Graph-Augmented Tree Search with Layered World Models for Efficient Agent Planning

Large Language Model (LLM) agents have shown promise in multi-step planning tasks, but existing approaches like LATS (Language Agent Tree Search) and ReAct rely heavily on LLM inference during planning, leading to high computational costs and stochastic behavior. We present GATS (Graph-Augmented Tree Search), a planning framework that combines systematic UCB1-based tree search with a layered world model to eliminate LLM calls during inference while achieving superior planning performance. Our three-layer world model integrates: (L1) exact symbolic action matching, (L2) statistics learned from execution logs, and (L3) LLM-based prediction for unknown actions. On synthetic planning tasks with branching paths and dead-ends, GATS achieves 100% success rate compared to 92 % for LATS and 64% for ReAct. On a comprehensive stress test spanning 12 challenging scenarios -- including coding workflows, web navigation, and long-horizon tasks -- GATS maintains 100% success while LATS drops to 88.9 % and ReAct to 23.9%. GATS requires zero LLM calls per task during planning (vs. 37 per task for LATS) and produces deterministic plans with zero variance across runs. Our results demonstrate that systematic search with learned world models can substantially outperform LLM-guided exploration for agent planning.