Think-on-Graph 3.0: Efficient and Adaptive LLM Reasoning on
  Heterogeneous Graphs via Multi-Agent Dual-Evolving Context Retrieval
Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) and Graph-based RAG has become the
important paradigm for enhancing Large Language Models (LLMs) with external
knowledge. However, existing approaches face a fundamental trade-off. While
graph-based methods are inherently dependent on high-quality graph structures,
they face significant practical constraints: manually constructed knowledge
graphs are prohibitively expensive to scale, while automatically extracted
graphs from corpora are limited by the performance of the underlying LLM
extractors, especially when using smaller, local-deployed models. This paper
presents Think-on-Graph 3.0 (ToG-3), a novel framework that introduces
Multi-Agent Context Evolution and Retrieval (MACER) mechanism to overcome these
limitations. Our core innovation is the dynamic construction and refinement of
a Chunk-Triplets-Community heterogeneous graph index, which pioneeringly
incorporates a dual-evolution mechanism of Evolving Query and Evolving
Sub-Graph for precise evidence retrieval. This approach addresses a critical
limitation of prior Graph-based RAG methods, which typically construct a static
graph index in a single pass without adapting to the actual query. A
multi-agent system, comprising Constructor, Retriever, Reflector, and Responser
agents, collaboratively engages in an iterative process of evidence retrieval,
answer generation, sufficiency reflection, and, crucially, evolving query and
subgraph. This dual-evolving multi-agent system allows ToG-3 to adaptively
build a targeted graph index during reasoning, mitigating the inherent
drawbacks of static, one-time graph construction and enabling deep, precise
reasoning even with lightweight LLMs. Extensive experiments demonstrate that
ToG-3 outperforms compared baselines on both deep and broad reasoning
benchmarks, and ablation studies confirm the efficacy of the components of
MACER framework.
68d9f6800177a6054b013b3e
Xiaojun Wu
claimed_verified
2025-09-29T05:58:01.305Z
6352637d0f9bdb641c44e52d
https://cdn-avatars.huggingface.co/v1/production/uploads/6352637d0f9bdb641c44e52d/mSBRPzcH5pIV68PUmcsHV.png
wuxiaojun
user
wuxiaojun
68d9f6800177a6054b013b3f
Cehao Yang
68d9f6800177a6054b013b40
Xueyuan Lin
68d9f6800177a6054b013b41
Chengjin Xu
68d9f6800177a6054b013b42
Xuhui Jiang
68d9f6800177a6054b013b43
Yuanliang Sun
68d9f6800177a6054b013b44
Hui Xiong
68d9f6800177a6054b013b45
Jia Li
68d9f6800177a6054b013b46
Jian Guo
Think-on-Graph 3.0: Efficient and Adaptive LLM Reasoning on
  Heterogeneous Graphs via Multi-Agent Dual-Evolving Context Retrieval
Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) and Graph-based RAG has become the
important paradigm for enhancing Large Language Models (LLMs) with external
knowledge. However, existing approaches face a fundamental trade-off. While
graph-based methods are inherently dependent on high-quality graph structures,
they face significant practical constraints: manually constructed knowledge
graphs are prohibitively expensive to scale, while automatically extracted
graphs from corpora are limited by the performance of the underlying LLM
extractors, especially when using smaller, local-deployed models. This paper
presents Think-on-Graph 3.0 (ToG-3), a novel framework that introduces
Multi-Agent Context Evolution and Retrieval (MACER) mechanism to overcome these
limitations. Our core innovation is the dynamic construction and refinement of
a Chunk-Triplets-Community heterogeneous graph index, which pioneeringly
incorporates a dual-evolution mechanism of Evolving Query and Evolving
Sub-Graph for precise evidence retrieval. This approach addresses a critical
limitation of prior Graph-based RAG methods, which typically construct a static
graph index in a single pass without adapting to the actual query. A
multi-agent system, comprising Constructor, Retriever, Reflector, and Responser
agents, collaboratively engages in an iterative process of evidence retrieval,
answer generation, sufficiency reflection, and, crucially, evolving query and
subgraph. This dual-evolving multi-agent system allows ToG-3 to adaptively
build a targeted graph index during reasoning, mitigating the inherent
drawbacks of static, one-time graph construction and enabling deep, precise
reasoning even with lightweight LLMs. Extensive experiments demonstrate that
ToG-3 outperforms compared baselines on both deep and broad reasoning
benchmarks, and ablation studies confirm the efficacy of the components of
MACER framework.
ToG-3, a novel framework, enhances LLMs with external knowledge using a dynamic, multi-agent system that evolves queries and subgraphs for precise evidence retrieval and reasoning.
Retrieval-Augmented Generation Graph-based RAG Large Language Models Multi-Agent Context Evolution and Retrieval Chunk-Triplets-Community Evolving Query Evolving Sub-Graph multi-agent system Constructor Retriever Reflector Responser deep reasoning broad reasoning