ScaffoldAgent: Utility-Guided Dynamic Outline Optimization for Open-Ended Deep Research
Open-ended deep research (OEDR) requires systems to acquire knowledge through multi-round retrieval and generate coherent long-form reports. The outline plays a central role as a structural scaffold that coordinates retrieval, evidence organization, and generation. However, existing methods either fix the outline before writing or refine it with local heuristics, leading to scaffold drift under continuous information accumulation and delayed feedback for evaluating outline modifications. We propose ScaffoldAgent, a utility-guided dynamic outline optimization framework for OEDR. ScaffoldAgent models outline evolution as a structured decision process with three operations: Expansion, Contra...
| Authors | Zhibang Yang, Xinke Jiang, Yuzhen Xiao et al. |
|---|---|
| Primary category | cs.AI |
| Published | 18 June 2026 |
| Last updated at source | 30 August 2026 |
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