Reactive Optimizers

Xingjian Bai, Jia-Hao Liang, Jayden Teoh, Vincent Sitzmann

We study a reactive optimizer that uses a pretrained language-model agent to inspect training dynamics and rewrite executable optimizer code during a single training run. The agent can change update rules and schedules for individual parameter groups, without optimizer-specific meta-training or memory transferred from other runs. We evaluate this approach, OPAL, on language modeling and image generation when a recipe has not been tuned for the target setting. Across the evaluated settings, it matches or improves on selected fixed recipes. Analysis of its decisions shows changes to learning-rate schedules, optimizer structure, numerical precision, and momentum. Controlled experiments also show adaptation to repeated data corruption and reduced overfitting. We report these behaviors together with the agent's computational cost and implementation requirements.