MemRL: Self-Evolving Agents via Runtime Reinforcement Learning on Episodic Memory

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2601.03192v1
• Date: Tue, 06 Jan 2026 17:14:50 GMT
• Title: MemRL: Self-Evolving Agents via Runtime Reinforcement Learning on Episodic Memory
• Authors: Shengtao Zhang, Jiaqian Wang, Ruiwen Zhou, Junwei Liao, Yuchen Feng, Weinan Zhang, Ying Wen, Zhiyu Li, Feiyu Xiong, Yutao Qi, Bo Tang, Muning Wen,
• Abstract summary: We propose MemRL, a framework that enables agents to self-evolve via non-parametric reinforcement learning on episodic memory.<n>MemRL employs a Two-Phase Retrieval mechanism that filters candidates by semantic relevance and then selects them based on learned Q-values.<n>Our analysis experiments confirm that MemRL effectively reconciles the stability-plasticity dilemma, enabling continuous runtime improvement without weight updates.
• Score: 46.632646462295234
• License: http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/
• Abstract: The hallmark of human intelligence is the ability to master new skills through Constructive Episodic Simulation-retrieving past experiences to synthesize solutions for novel tasks. While Large Language Models possess strong reasoning capabilities, they struggle to emulate this self-evolution: fine-tuning is computationally expensive and prone to catastrophic forgetting, while existing memory-based methods rely on passive semantic matching that often retrieves noise. To address these challenges, we propose MemRL, a framework that enables agents to self-evolve via non-parametric reinforcement learning on episodic memory. MemRL explicitly separates the stable reasoning of a frozen LLM from the plastic, evolving memory. Unlike traditional methods, MemRL employs a Two-Phase Retrieval mechanism that filters candidates by semantic relevance and then selects them based on learned Q-values (utility). These utilities are continuously refined via environmental feedback in an trial-and-error manner, allowing the agent to distinguish high-value strategies from similar noise. Extensive experiments on HLE, BigCodeBench, ALFWorld, and Lifelong Agent Bench demonstrate that MemRL significantly outperforms state-of-the-art baselines. Our analysis experiments confirm that MemRL effectively reconciles the stability-plasticity dilemma, enabling continuous runtime improvement without weight updates.

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