mlsanityData to 7 Oct 2026

Evolving in the Agent Jungle via History-Informed Opponent Awareness

arXiv 2608.02005 ↗First posted 3 Aug 2026cs.AIcited by 0

On the map: LLM agents and tool use → Agent skill learning and evolution

Abstract (arXiv)

Learning to adapt strategies through interaction is a key step toward more general and autonomous LLM agents. Existing approaches typically achieve behavioral adaptation by revising skill libraries. However, in multi-agent environments, opponents may simultaneously update their strategies, causing the environment itself to evolve continuously. Applying skill-revision methods designed for static environments in such settings therefore amounts to updating against an obsolete reference. To address this challenge, we introduce OASE (Opponent-Aware Selective Evolution), which identifies and adopts genuinely beneficial skill revisions in dynamic multi-agent environments. Specifically, OASE conducts paired comparisons between a candidate skill and the incumbent under identical conditions anchored by historical snapshots of opponent strategies, and adopts the candidate only when its estimated payoff gain exceeds an acceptance threshold. We evaluate OASE in two decision-making scenarios: first-price auctions and private-cost Cournot competition. Experimental results show that, compared with a Reflexion-style baseline, OASE achieves a lower final equilibrium distance in both environments while accepting substantially fewer skill revisions, thereby suppressing strategy changes that lack sufficient payoff support. OASE therefore replaces blind updating with evidence-anchored selection, allowing agents to adapt stably and efficiently even as opponents continuously evolve.

Key facts. No citing papers in the map yet (data through 7 Oct 2026). Placed in Agent skill learning and evolution, one of 16 directions in LLM agents and tool use. Builds on 18 of its 23 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 3 Aug 2026.

Builds on

18 of 23 references.

References · 18

  1. 2022ReAct: Synergizing Reasoning and Acting in Language Modelscited by 8,355
  2. 2023Reflexion: Language Agents with Verbal Reinforcement Learningcited by 4,064
  3. 2023Generative Agents: Interactive Simulacra of Human Behaviorcited by 3,500
  4. 2023Self-Refine: Iterative Refinement with Self-Feedbackcited by 3,317
  5. 2023Voyager: An Open-Ended Embodied Agent with Large Language Modelscited by 2,081
  6. 2023Large Language Models as Optimizerscited by 830
  7. 2017Counterfactual Multi-Agent Policy Gradientscited by 733
  8. 2023Eureka: Human-Level Reward Design via Coding Large Language Modelscited by 542
  9. 2023Promptbreeder: Self-Referential Self-Improvement Via Prompt Evolutioncited by 521
  10. 2017A Unified Game-Theoretic Approach to Multiagent Reinforcement Learningcited by 265
  11. 2018The Mechanics of n-Player Differentiable Gamescited by 118
  12. 2019Open-ended Learning in Symmetric Zero-sum Gamescited by 96
6 more
  1. 2023Can Large Language Models Serve as Rational Players in Game Theory? A Systematic Analysiscited by 91
  2. 2018Stable Opponent Shaping in Differentiable Gamescited by 49
  3. 2020Pipeline PSRO: A Scalable Approach for Finding Approximate Nash Equilibria in Large Gamescited by 47
  4. 2021XDO: A Double Oracle Algorithm for Extensive-Form Gamescited by 34
  5. 2019Competitive Gradient Descentcited by 32
  6. 2024Lifelong Robot Library Learning: Bootstrapping Composable and Generalizable Skills for Embodied Control with Language Modelscited by 26

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  1. 2026Skill1: Unified Evolution of Skill-Augmented Agents via Reinforcement Learning
  2. 2026When Successful Strategies Fail: Adaptation to Environmental Novelty in Terminal Agents
  3. 2025Agents of Change: Self-Evolving LLM Agents for Strategic Planning
  4. 2026AEL: Evolving Agent Harness in Open-Ended Environments
  5. 2026SkillSmith: Co-Evolving Skills and Tools for Self-Improving Agent Systems
  6. 2026Coalition-Aware Skill Reliability for Self-Evolving Agents
  7. 2024Agent-Pro: Learning to Evolve via Policy-Level Reflection and Optimization
  8. 2026Bayesian-Agent: Posterior-Guided Skill Evolution Across LLM Agent Harnesses