ScoreFlow: Mastering LLM Agent Workflows via Score-based Preference Optimization

Yinjie Wang; Ling Yang; Guohao Li; Mengdi Wang; Bryon Aragam

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arXiv · 2502.04306

ScoreFlow: Mastering LLM Agent Workflows via Score-based Preference Optimization

Yinjie Wang·Ling Yang·Guohao Li·Mengdi Wang·Bryon Aragam

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Abstract

Recent research has leveraged large language model multi-agent systems for complex problem-solving while trying to reduce the manual effort required to build them, driving the development of automated agent workflow optimization methods. However, existing methods remain inflexible due to representational limitations, a lack of adaptability, and poor scalability when relying on discrete optimization techniques. We address these challenges with ScoreFlow, a simple yet high-performance framework that leverages efficient gradient-based optimization in a continuous space. ScoreFlow incorporates Score-DPO, a novel variant of the direct preference optimization method that accounts for quantitative feedback. Across six benchmarks spanning question answering, coding, and mathematical reasoning, ScoreFlow achieves an 8.2% improvement over existing baselines. Moreover, it empowers smaller models to outperform larger ones with lower inference costs. Project: https://github.com/Gen-Verse/ScoreFlow

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Yinjie Wang, Ling Yang, Guohao Li, Mengdi Wang, Bryon Aragam. 2025-02-06. ScoreFlow: Mastering LLM Agent Workflows via Score-based Preference Optimization. https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.04306

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