mlsanityData to 14 Oct 2026

Bayesian Flow Networks for Offline Trajectory Planning

arXiv 2608.25163 ↗First posted 25 Aug 2026cs.LG cs.AIcited by 0

On the map: Offline RL and imitation learning from data → Diffusion and flow policies for offline RL

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Abstract (arXiv)

Offline reinforcement learning (RL) leverages static datasets to learn decision policies without real-time environment interaction. While recent sequence-modeling approaches rely on continuous diffusion models for trajectory synthesis, applying these methods to discrete planning tasks requires a categorical formulation rather than the standard Gaussian construction. We present BFN-RL, a unified generative modeling framework for offline RL based on Bayesian Flow Networks (BFNs). By iteratively evolving distribution parameters rather than noisy data instances, BFN-RL natively models both discrete and continuous trajectory spaces within a single probabilistic formulation. The categorical planner generates future state sequences, and a learned inverse-dynamics model converts consecutive generated states into actions. Evaluations in discrete planning and continuous control show that BFN-RL can generate effective trajectories across both categorical and continuous state spaces. Our results establish BFNs as a versatile generative foundation for offline trajectory planning across data modalities.

Key facts. No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026). Placed in Diffusion and flow policies for offline RL, one of 13 directions in Offline RL and imitation learning from data. Builds on 17 of its 22 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 25 Aug 2026.

Builds on

17 of 22 references.

Closest ancestors · 1

Same direction, newest first

  1. 2022Is Conditional Generative Modeling all you need for Decision-Making?28 Nov

Other references · 16

  1. 2020Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Modelscited by 21,076
  2. 2021Diffusion Models Beat GANs on Image Synthesiscited by 8,255
  3. 2022Classifier-Free Diffusion Guidancecited by 5,847
  4. 2022Video Diffusion Modelscited by 2,305
  5. 2020Offline Reinforcement Learning: Tutorial, Review, and Perspectives on Open Problemscited by 1,920
  6. 2020Conservative Q-Learning for Offline Reinforcement Learningcited by 1,809
  7. 2021Structured Denoising Diffusion Models in Discrete State-Spacescited by 1,719
  8. 2021Decision Transformer: Reinforcement Learning via Sequence Modelingcited by 1,546
  9. 2022RePaint: Inpainting using Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Modelscited by 1,430
  10. 2020D4RL: Datasets for Deep Data-Driven Reinforcement Learningcited by 1,427
  11. 2022Planning with Diffusion for Flexible Behavior Synthesiscited by 1,061
  12. 2023Discrete Diffusion Modeling by Estimating the Ratios of the Data Distributioncited by 745
4 more
  1. 2021Diffusion Probabilistic Models for 3D Point Cloud Generationcited by 735
  2. 2021Offline Reinforcement Learning as One Big Sequence Modeling Problemcited by 644
  3. 2023Bayesian Flow Networkscited by 63
  4. 2024Unifying Bayesian Flow Networks and Diffusion Models through Stochastic Differential Equationscited by 28

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  1. 2026From Suboptimal to Optimal: One-Step Latent Flow Policies for Offline Reinforcement Learning
  2. 2025Offline Reinforcement Learning with Generative Trajectory Policies
  3. 2026Shortcut Trajectory Planning for Efficient Offline Reinforcement Learning
  4. 2026HorizonFlow: Variable-Length Planning for Offline Goal-Conditioned RL
  5. 2025Learning from Reward-Free Offline Data: A Case for Planning with Latent Dynamics Models
  6. 2026Flow Matching for Offline Reinforcement Learning with Discrete Actions
  7. 2026Discrete Flow Matching for Offline-to-Online Reinforcement Learning
  8. 2021Model-Based Offline Planning with Trajectory Pruning