Large Language Model-Based Agents for Software Engineering: A Survey Article Swipe
Junwei Liu
,
Kaixin Wang
,
Yixuan Chen
,
Xin Peng
,
Zhenpeng Chen
,
Lingming Zhang
,
Yiling Lou
·
YOU?
·
· 2024
· Open Access
·
· DOI: https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2409.02977
YOU?
·
· 2024
· Open Access
·
· DOI: https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2409.02977
The recent advance in Large Language Models (LLMs) has shaped a new paradigm of AI agents, i.e., LLM-based agents. Compared to standalone LLMs, LLM-based agents substantially extend the versatility and expertise of LLMs by enhancing LLMs with the capabilities of perceiving and utilizing external resources and tools. To date, LLM-based agents have been applied and shown remarkable effectiveness in Software Engineering (SE). The synergy between multiple agents and human interaction brings further promise in tackling complex real-world SE problems. In this work, we present a comprehensive and systematic survey on LLM-based agents for SE. We collect 124 papers and categorize them from two perspectives, i.e., the SE and agent perspectives. In addition, we discuss open challenges and future directions in this critical domain. The repository of this survey is at https://github.com/FudanSELab/Agent4SE-Paper-List.
Related Topics
Metadata
- Type
- preprint
- Language
- en
- Landing Page
- http://arxiv.org/abs/2409.02977
- https://arxiv.org/pdf/2409.02977
- OA Status
- green
- Cited By
- 12
- Related Works
- 10
- OpenAlex ID
- https://openalex.org/W4403555534
All OpenAlex metadata
Raw OpenAlex JSON
- OpenAlex ID
-
https://openalex.org/W4403555534Canonical identifier for this work in OpenAlex
- DOI
-
https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2409.02977Digital Object Identifier
- Title
-
Large Language Model-Based Agents for Software Engineering: A SurveyWork title
- Type
-
preprintOpenAlex work type
- Language
-
enPrimary language
- Publication year
-
2024Year of publication
- Publication date
-
2024-09-04Full publication date if available
- Authors
-
Junwei Liu, Kaixin Wang, Yixuan Chen, Xin Peng, Zhenpeng Chen, Lingming Zhang, Yiling LouList of authors in order
- Landing page
-
https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.02977Publisher landing page
- PDF URL
-
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2409.02977Direct link to full text PDF
- Open access
-
YesWhether a free full text is available
- OA status
-
greenOpen access status per OpenAlex
- OA URL
-
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2409.02977Direct OA link when available
- Concepts
-
Computer science, Software engineering, Programming languageTop concepts (fields/topics) attached by OpenAlex
- Cited by
-
12Total citation count in OpenAlex
- Citations by year (recent)
-
2025: 10, 2024: 2Per-year citation counts (last 5 years)
- Related works (count)
-
10Other works algorithmically related by OpenAlex
Full payload
| id | https://openalex.org/W4403555534 |
|---|---|
| doi | https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2409.02977 |
| ids.doi | https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2409.02977 |
| ids.openalex | https://openalex.org/W4403555534 |
| fwci | |
| type | preprint |
| title | Large Language Model-Based Agents for Software Engineering: A Survey |
| biblio.issue | |
| biblio.volume | |
| biblio.last_page | |
| biblio.first_page | |
| topics[0].id | https://openalex.org/T10456 |
| topics[0].field.id | https://openalex.org/fields/17 |
| topics[0].field.display_name | Computer Science |
| topics[0].score | 0.9408000111579895 |
| topics[0].domain.id | https://openalex.org/domains/3 |
| topics[0].domain.display_name | Physical Sciences |
| topics[0].subfield.id | https://openalex.org/subfields/1702 |
| topics[0].subfield.display_name | Artificial Intelligence |
| topics[0].display_name | Multi-Agent Systems and Negotiation |
| topics[1].id | https://openalex.org/T10679 |
| topics[1].field.id | https://openalex.org/fields/17 |
| topics[1].field.display_name | Computer Science |
| topics[1].score | 0.9192000031471252 |
| topics[1].domain.id | https://openalex.org/domains/3 |
| topics[1].domain.display_name | Physical Sciences |
| topics[1].subfield.id | https://openalex.org/subfields/1710 |
| topics[1].subfield.display_name | Information Systems |
| topics[1].display_name | Service-Oriented Architecture and Web Services |
| is_xpac | False |
| apc_list | |
| apc_paid | |
| concepts[0].id | https://openalex.org/C41008148 |
| concepts[0].level | 0 |
| concepts[0].score | 0.5650479793548584 |
| concepts[0].wikidata | https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198 |
| concepts[0].display_name | Computer science |
| concepts[1].id | https://openalex.org/C115903868 |
| concepts[1].level | 1 |
| concepts[1].score | 0.5117713809013367 |
| concepts[1].wikidata | https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q80993 |
| concepts[1].display_name | Software engineering |
| concepts[2].id | https://openalex.org/C199360897 |
| concepts[2].level | 1 |
| concepts[2].score | 0.36500126123428345 |
| concepts[2].wikidata | https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q9143 |
| concepts[2].display_name | Programming language |
| keywords[0].id | https://openalex.org/keywords/computer-science |
| keywords[0].score | 0.5650479793548584 |
| keywords[0].display_name | Computer science |
| keywords[1].id | https://openalex.org/keywords/software-engineering |
| keywords[1].score | 0.5117713809013367 |
| keywords[1].display_name | Software engineering |
| keywords[2].id | https://openalex.org/keywords/programming-language |
| keywords[2].score | 0.36500126123428345 |
| keywords[2].display_name | Programming language |
| language | en |
| locations[0].id | pmh:oai:arXiv.org:2409.02977 |
| locations[0].is_oa | True |
| locations[0].source.id | https://openalex.org/S4306400194 |
| locations[0].source.issn | |
| locations[0].source.type | repository |
| locations[0].source.is_oa | True |
| locations[0].source.issn_l | |
| locations[0].source.is_core | False |
| locations[0].source.is_in_doaj | False |
| locations[0].source.display_name | arXiv (Cornell University) |
| locations[0].source.host_organization | https://openalex.org/I205783295 |
| locations[0].source.host_organization_name | Cornell University |
| locations[0].source.host_organization_lineage | https://openalex.org/I205783295 |
| locations[0].license | |
| locations[0].pdf_url | https://arxiv.org/pdf/2409.02977 |
| locations[0].version | submittedVersion |
| locations[0].raw_type | |
| locations[0].license_id | |
| locations[0].is_accepted | False |
| locations[0].is_published | False |
| locations[0].raw_source_name | |
| locations[0].landing_page_url | http://arxiv.org/abs/2409.02977 |
| locations[1].id | doi:10.48550/arxiv.2409.02977 |
| locations[1].is_oa | True |
| locations[1].source.id | https://openalex.org/S4306400194 |
| locations[1].source.issn | |
| locations[1].source.type | repository |
| locations[1].source.is_oa | True |
| locations[1].source.issn_l | |
| locations[1].source.is_core | False |
| locations[1].source.is_in_doaj | False |
| locations[1].source.display_name | arXiv (Cornell University) |
| locations[1].source.host_organization | https://openalex.org/I205783295 |
| locations[1].source.host_organization_name | Cornell University |
| locations[1].source.host_organization_lineage | https://openalex.org/I205783295 |
| locations[1].license | |
| locations[1].pdf_url | |
| locations[1].version | |
| locations[1].raw_type | article |
| locations[1].license_id | |
| locations[1].is_accepted | False |
| locations[1].is_published | |
| locations[1].raw_source_name | |
| locations[1].landing_page_url | https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2409.02977 |
| indexed_in | arxiv, datacite |
| authorships[0].author.id | https://openalex.org/A5100422486 |
| authorships[0].author.orcid | |
| authorships[0].author.display_name | Junwei Liu |
| authorships[0].author_position | first |
| authorships[0].raw_author_name | Liu, Junwei |
| authorships[0].is_corresponding | False |
| authorships[1].author.id | https://openalex.org/A5108089759 |
| authorships[1].author.orcid | https://orcid.org/0009-0009-8066-3261 |
| authorships[1].author.display_name | Kaixin Wang |
| authorships[1].author_position | middle |
| authorships[1].raw_author_name | Wang, Kaixin |
| authorships[1].is_corresponding | False |
| authorships[2].author.id | https://openalex.org/A5076459119 |
| authorships[2].author.orcid | https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5772-3734 |
| authorships[2].author.display_name | Yixuan Chen |
| authorships[2].author_position | middle |
| authorships[2].raw_author_name | Chen, Yixuan |
| authorships[2].is_corresponding | False |
| authorships[3].author.id | https://openalex.org/A5101854992 |
| authorships[3].author.orcid | https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3376-2581 |
| authorships[3].author.display_name | Xin Peng |
| authorships[3].author_position | middle |
| authorships[3].raw_author_name | Peng, Xin |
| authorships[3].is_corresponding | False |
| authorships[4].author.id | https://openalex.org/A5031457464 |
| authorships[4].author.orcid | https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4765-1893 |
| authorships[4].author.display_name | Zhenpeng Chen |
| authorships[4].author_position | middle |
| authorships[4].raw_author_name | Chen, Zhenpeng |
| authorships[4].is_corresponding | False |
| authorships[5].author.id | https://openalex.org/A5043546718 |
| authorships[5].author.orcid | https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5175-2702 |
| authorships[5].author.display_name | Lingming Zhang |
| authorships[5].author_position | middle |
| authorships[5].raw_author_name | Zhang, Lingming |
| authorships[5].is_corresponding | False |
| authorships[6].author.id | https://openalex.org/A5024354460 |
| authorships[6].author.orcid | https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4066-3365 |
| authorships[6].author.display_name | Yiling Lou |
| authorships[6].author_position | last |
| authorships[6].raw_author_name | Lou, Yiling |
| authorships[6].is_corresponding | False |
| has_content.pdf | False |
| has_content.grobid_xml | False |
| is_paratext | False |
| open_access.is_oa | True |
| open_access.oa_url | https://arxiv.org/pdf/2409.02977 |
| open_access.oa_status | green |
| open_access.any_repository_has_fulltext | False |
| created_date | 2025-10-10T00:00:00 |
| display_name | Large Language Model-Based Agents for Software Engineering: A Survey |
| has_fulltext | False |
| is_retracted | False |
| updated_date | 2025-12-05T23:21:25.405358 |
| primary_topic.id | https://openalex.org/T10456 |
| primary_topic.field.id | https://openalex.org/fields/17 |
| primary_topic.field.display_name | Computer Science |
| primary_topic.score | 0.9408000111579895 |
| primary_topic.domain.id | https://openalex.org/domains/3 |
| primary_topic.domain.display_name | Physical Sciences |
| primary_topic.subfield.id | https://openalex.org/subfields/1702 |
| primary_topic.subfield.display_name | Artificial Intelligence |
| primary_topic.display_name | Multi-Agent Systems and Negotiation |
| related_works | https://openalex.org/W4391375266, https://openalex.org/W2899084033, https://openalex.org/W2748952813, https://openalex.org/W2390279801, https://openalex.org/W4391913857, https://openalex.org/W2358668433, https://openalex.org/W4396701345, https://openalex.org/W2376932109, https://openalex.org/W2001405890, https://openalex.org/W4396696052 |
| cited_by_count | 12 |
| counts_by_year[0].year | 2025 |
| counts_by_year[0].cited_by_count | 10 |
| counts_by_year[1].year | 2024 |
| counts_by_year[1].cited_by_count | 2 |
| locations_count | 2 |
| best_oa_location.id | pmh:oai:arXiv.org:2409.02977 |
| best_oa_location.is_oa | True |
| best_oa_location.source.id | https://openalex.org/S4306400194 |
| best_oa_location.source.issn | |
| best_oa_location.source.type | repository |
| best_oa_location.source.is_oa | True |
| best_oa_location.source.issn_l | |
| best_oa_location.source.is_core | False |
| best_oa_location.source.is_in_doaj | False |
| best_oa_location.source.display_name | arXiv (Cornell University) |
| best_oa_location.source.host_organization | https://openalex.org/I205783295 |
| best_oa_location.source.host_organization_name | Cornell University |
| best_oa_location.source.host_organization_lineage | https://openalex.org/I205783295 |
| best_oa_location.license | |
| best_oa_location.pdf_url | https://arxiv.org/pdf/2409.02977 |
| best_oa_location.version | submittedVersion |
| best_oa_location.raw_type | |
| best_oa_location.license_id | |
| best_oa_location.is_accepted | False |
| best_oa_location.is_published | False |
| best_oa_location.raw_source_name | |
| best_oa_location.landing_page_url | http://arxiv.org/abs/2409.02977 |
| primary_location.id | pmh:oai:arXiv.org:2409.02977 |
| primary_location.is_oa | True |
| primary_location.source.id | https://openalex.org/S4306400194 |
| primary_location.source.issn | |
| primary_location.source.type | repository |
| primary_location.source.is_oa | True |
| primary_location.source.issn_l | |
| primary_location.source.is_core | False |
| primary_location.source.is_in_doaj | False |
| primary_location.source.display_name | arXiv (Cornell University) |
| primary_location.source.host_organization | https://openalex.org/I205783295 |
| primary_location.source.host_organization_name | Cornell University |
| primary_location.source.host_organization_lineage | https://openalex.org/I205783295 |
| primary_location.license | |
| primary_location.pdf_url | https://arxiv.org/pdf/2409.02977 |
| primary_location.version | submittedVersion |
| primary_location.raw_type | |
| primary_location.license_id | |
| primary_location.is_accepted | False |
| primary_location.is_published | False |
| primary_location.raw_source_name | |
| primary_location.landing_page_url | http://arxiv.org/abs/2409.02977 |
| publication_date | 2024-09-04 |
| publication_year | 2024 |
| referenced_works_count | 0 |
| abstract_inverted_index.a | 10, 84 |
| abstract_inverted_index.AI | 14 |
| abstract_inverted_index.In | 79, 110 |
| abstract_inverted_index.SE | 77, 106 |
| abstract_inverted_index.To | 47 |
| abstract_inverted_index.We | 94 |
| abstract_inverted_index.at | 129 |
| abstract_inverted_index.by | 33 |
| abstract_inverted_index.in | 3, 58, 73, 119 |
| abstract_inverted_index.is | 128 |
| abstract_inverted_index.of | 13, 31, 39, 125 |
| abstract_inverted_index.on | 89 |
| abstract_inverted_index.to | 20 |
| abstract_inverted_index.we | 82, 112 |
| abstract_inverted_index.124 | 96 |
| abstract_inverted_index.SE. | 93 |
| abstract_inverted_index.The | 0, 62, 123 |
| abstract_inverted_index.and | 29, 41, 45, 54, 67, 86, 98, 107, 116 |
| abstract_inverted_index.for | 92 |
| abstract_inverted_index.has | 8 |
| abstract_inverted_index.new | 11 |
| abstract_inverted_index.the | 27, 37, 105 |
| abstract_inverted_index.two | 102 |
| abstract_inverted_index.LLMs | 32, 35 |
| abstract_inverted_index.been | 52 |
| abstract_inverted_index.from | 101 |
| abstract_inverted_index.have | 51 |
| abstract_inverted_index.open | 114 |
| abstract_inverted_index.them | 100 |
| abstract_inverted_index.this | 80, 120, 126 |
| abstract_inverted_index.with | 36 |
| abstract_inverted_index.(SE). | 61 |
| abstract_inverted_index.LLMs, | 22 |
| abstract_inverted_index.Large | 4 |
| abstract_inverted_index.agent | 108 |
| abstract_inverted_index.date, | 48 |
| abstract_inverted_index.human | 68 |
| abstract_inverted_index.i.e., | 16, 104 |
| abstract_inverted_index.shown | 55 |
| abstract_inverted_index.work, | 81 |
| abstract_inverted_index.(LLMs) | 7 |
| abstract_inverted_index.Models | 6 |
| abstract_inverted_index.agents | 24, 50, 66, 91 |
| abstract_inverted_index.brings | 70 |
| abstract_inverted_index.extend | 26 |
| abstract_inverted_index.future | 117 |
| abstract_inverted_index.papers | 97 |
| abstract_inverted_index.recent | 1 |
| abstract_inverted_index.shaped | 9 |
| abstract_inverted_index.survey | 88, 127 |
| abstract_inverted_index.tools. | 46 |
| abstract_inverted_index.advance | 2 |
| abstract_inverted_index.agents, | 15 |
| abstract_inverted_index.agents. | 18 |
| abstract_inverted_index.applied | 53 |
| abstract_inverted_index.between | 64 |
| abstract_inverted_index.collect | 95 |
| abstract_inverted_index.complex | 75 |
| abstract_inverted_index.discuss | 113 |
| abstract_inverted_index.domain. | 122 |
| abstract_inverted_index.further | 71 |
| abstract_inverted_index.present | 83 |
| abstract_inverted_index.promise | 72 |
| abstract_inverted_index.synergy | 63 |
| abstract_inverted_index.Compared | 19 |
| abstract_inverted_index.Language | 5 |
| abstract_inverted_index.Software | 59 |
| abstract_inverted_index.critical | 121 |
| abstract_inverted_index.external | 43 |
| abstract_inverted_index.multiple | 65 |
| abstract_inverted_index.paradigm | 12 |
| abstract_inverted_index.tackling | 74 |
| abstract_inverted_index.LLM-based | 17, 23, 49, 90 |
| abstract_inverted_index.addition, | 111 |
| abstract_inverted_index.enhancing | 34 |
| abstract_inverted_index.expertise | 30 |
| abstract_inverted_index.problems. | 78 |
| abstract_inverted_index.resources | 44 |
| abstract_inverted_index.utilizing | 42 |
| abstract_inverted_index.categorize | 99 |
| abstract_inverted_index.challenges | 115 |
| abstract_inverted_index.directions | 118 |
| abstract_inverted_index.perceiving | 40 |
| abstract_inverted_index.real-world | 76 |
| abstract_inverted_index.remarkable | 56 |
| abstract_inverted_index.repository | 124 |
| abstract_inverted_index.standalone | 21 |
| abstract_inverted_index.systematic | 87 |
| abstract_inverted_index.Engineering | 60 |
| abstract_inverted_index.interaction | 69 |
| abstract_inverted_index.versatility | 28 |
| abstract_inverted_index.capabilities | 38 |
| abstract_inverted_index.comprehensive | 85 |
| abstract_inverted_index.effectiveness | 57 |
| abstract_inverted_index.perspectives, | 103 |
| abstract_inverted_index.perspectives. | 109 |
| abstract_inverted_index.substantially | 25 |
| abstract_inverted_index.https://github.com/FudanSELab/Agent4SE-Paper-List. | 130 |
| cited_by_percentile_year | |
| countries_distinct_count | 0 |
| institutions_distinct_count | 7 |
| citation_normalized_percentile |