mlsanityData to 14 Oct 2026

AgentExecutor: Partial Code Execution via Agentic Context Generation

arXiv 2608.05959 ↗First posted 6 Aug 2026cs.SEcited by 1

On the map: LLM agents and tool use → Software engineering coding agents

Abstract (arXiv)

Executing code snippets is essential for dynamic program analysis, but it remains challenging to execute an arbitrary code snippet due to issues like missing context and incomplete dependencies. Existing approaches to partial code execution, such as LExecutor and Treefix, leverage the power of language models to infer missing information and enable execution. However, they suffer from (i) limited action spaces and feedback, and (ii) rigid optimization strategies, which restrict their effectiveness and efficiency. In this paper, we propose AgentExecutor, a novel multi-agent framework for partial code execution. Our approach introduces a three-phase design: execution environment preparation, dynamic exploration with iterative refinement, and prefix evolution via program synthesis. Supported by the power of LLM agents who can think, act, and get feedback iteratively, AgentExecutor is able to autonomously explore a richer action space, enabling diverse operations such as creating resource files and resolving environment configuration. Furthermore, it adopts adaptive optimization strategies, including coverage-guided context pruning and prefix evolution via program synthesis, to systematically improve the execution quality of partial code. We evaluate AgentExecutor on two widely used datasets comprising Stack Overflow snippets and open-source project code. The results show that AgentExecutor achieves up to 94% and 90% code coverage, outperforming the state-of-the-art approach Treefix by 19.9% and 13.8%, respectively. In addition, AgentExecutor significantly reduces execution time (by up to 80.3%) and cost (by up to 56.6%). These findings demonstrate that AgentExecutor provides an effective and efficient solution for partial code execution.

Key facts. Cited by 1 paper in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026). Placed in Software engineering coding agents, one of 16 directions in LLM agents and tool use. Builds on 15 of its 48 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 6 Aug 2026.

Builds on

15 of 48 references.

Closest ancestors · 3

Same direction, newest first

  1. 2026LIDL: LLM Integration Defect Localization via Knowledge Graph-Enhanced Multi-Agent Analysis9 Jan
  2. 2024Large Language Model-Based Agents for Software Engineering: A Survey4 Sep
  3. 2024RepairAgent: An Autonomous, LLM-Based Agent for Program Repair25 Mar

Other references · 12

  1. 2024Reasoning Runtime Behavior of a Program with LLM: How Far Are We?cited by 45
  2. 2023Prompt Fuzzing for Fuzz Driver Generationcited by 27
  3. 2023How Effective Are They? Exploring Large Language Model Based Fuzz Driver Generationcited by 21
  4. 2021Type4Py: Practical Deep Similarity Learning-Based Type Inference for Pythoncited by 19
  5. 2020Automated Unit Test Generation for Pythoncited by 18
  6. 2025Assessing and Advancing Benchmarks for Evaluating Large Language Models in Software Engineering Taskscited by 17
  7. 2025ELFuzz: Efficient Input Generation via LLM-driven Synthesis Over Fuzzer Spacecited by 15
  8. 2023LExecutor: Learning-Guided Executioncited by 7
  9. 2024SelfPiCo: Self-Guided Partial Code Execution with LLMscited by 7
  10. 2024ChangeGuard: Validating Code Changes via Pairwise Learning-Guided Executioncited by 6
  11. 2022Katana: Dual Slicing-Based Context for Learning Bug Fixescited by 4
  12. 2025Treefix: Enabling Execution with a Tree of Prefixescited by 2

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Cited by year (2026 to 14 Oct)

Citing papers per year: 2026: 1.

1 paper.

Similar, not cited

Close in wording, no citation either way

  1. 2026CodeDelegator: Mitigating Context Pollution via Role Separation in Code-as-Action Agents
  2. 2025SEW: Self-Evolving Agentic Workflows for Automated Code Generation
  3. 2026SWE-Cycle: Benchmarking Code Agents across the Complete Issue Resolution Cycle
  4. 2023AgentCoder: Multi-Agent-based Code Generation with Iterative Testing and Optimisation
  5. 2026ExecuGraph: A Multi-Agent, Execution-Grounded Framework for Reliable Backend Code Synthesis with Large Language Models
  6. 2026AgentForge: Execution-Grounded Multi-Agent LLM Framework for Autonomous Software Engineering
  7. 2024Self-Organized Agents: A LLM Multi-Agent Framework toward Ultra Large-Scale Code Generation and Optimization
  8. 2025Agent READMEs: An Empirical Study of Context Files for Agentic Coding