Datasets:
Formats:
parquet
Languages:
English
Size:
1K - 10K
ArXiv:
Tags:
reinforcement-learning
llm
post-training
rlhf
open-source-software
mining-software-repositories
License:
| license: cc-by-4.0 | |
| pretty_name: RL Method Tracker | |
| language: | |
| - en | |
| size_categories: | |
| - 1K<n<10K | |
| tags: | |
| - reinforcement-learning | |
| - llm | |
| - post-training | |
| - rlhf | |
| - open-source-software | |
| - mining-software-repositories | |
| configs: | |
| - config_name: papers | |
| data_files: papers.parquet | |
| default: true | |
| - config_name: methods | |
| data_files: methods.parquet | |
| - config_name: landings | |
| data_files: landings.parquet | |
| - config_name: proposals | |
| data_files: proposals.parquet | |
| # RL Method Tracker | |
| Which RL post-training methods for language models reached seven open-source training frameworks (verl, TRL, OpenRLHF, NeMo-RL, ROLL, slime, AReaL), when they landed, and how each framework offers them. | |
| Of 1,598 arXiv papers from January 2025 to June 2026 that propose a general RL training method, 37 reached the main branch of at least one framework. | |
| - Paper: [From RL Papers to Framework Code: Inclusion and Review in Seven Open-Source Training Frameworks](https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.28027) | |
| - Project page with search: https://pth2002.github.io/rl-method-tracker/ | |
| - Code and the full data release: https://github.com/pth2002/rl-method-tracker | |
| - Archived release: [doi:10.5281/zenodo.23495744](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23495744) | |
| This is the frozen v1.0 data behind the report, with framework histories up to the 2026-10-18 snapshot. | |
| The GitHub repository refreshes the framework histories every week. | |
| ## Load | |
| ```python | |
| from datasets import load_dataset | |
| papers = load_dataset("Purdy0228/rl-method-tracker", "papers", split="train") | |
| methods = load_dataset("Purdy0228/rl-method-tracker", "methods", split="train") | |
| ``` | |
| ## Subsets | |
| | Subset | Rows | One row per | | |
| |---|---|---| | |
| | `papers` | 6,939 | screened arXiv paper on RL for language models | | |
| | `methods` | 65 | method in the catalog, with its first landing in each framework | | |
| | `landings` | 101 | first commit that put a method on a framework's main branch | | |
| | `proposals` | 48 | public proposal for a general method that no framework included | | |
| ### papers | |
| - `arxiv`, `title`, `month`: arXiv id, title and month of the first version. | |
| - `label`: what the paper contributes. `rl_method`, `rl_application`, `analysis`, `systems`, `distillation`, `preference_offline` or `other`. | |
| - `scope`: for RL methods, `general` when the method is the paper's main contribution and `embedded` when it sits inside a paper about a task, domain, agent or application. | |
| - `component`: the part of training the method changes, such as `advantage`, `clipping`, `sampling` or `entropy`. | |
| - `label_confidence`: `high`, `medium` or `low`. | |
| - `is_model_report`: the paper is the technical report of a model. | |
| - `general_method`: the paper counts toward the 1,598 general methods. | |
| - `included`: the paper's method reached the main branch of at least one framework. | |
| - `methods`: catalog ids of the included methods the paper introduces. | |
| - `n_frameworks_ever`, `n_frameworks_at_snapshot`: frameworks that ever included the method, and those that still include it at the snapshot. | |
| ### methods | |
| - `id`, `name`, `family`, `arxiv`, `source_date`: the method and its first public source. | |
| - `n_fw_ever`, `n_fw_head`, `n_default`: frameworks that ever included it, that include it at the snapshot, and that turn it on by default. | |
| - `first_adoption`, `first_lag_days`, `first_lag_is_upper_bound`: date of the first landing in any framework and the days from the source to it. The lag is an upper bound when that first landing arrived with a repository's initial commit or a bulk release. | |
| - `n_self_contributed`: frameworks whose landing commit came from an author of the paper. | |
| - `<framework>_first`: date of the first landing in that framework. | |
| - `<framework>_head`: tier at the snapshot. `default` is on in a run that keeps every setting. `conditional_default` is on once a related feature is enabled. `core` is a selectable algorithm in the main code path. `option` is a switch that modifies the main algorithm. `experimental` and `recipe` sit outside the main path. | |
| ### landings | |
| - `method`, `framework`, `date`, `pr`, `tier`: the landing and the pull request that made it. | |
| - `first_in_any`: this framework was the first to include the method. | |
| - `form`: how the method changes training, as `coefficient`, `term` or `pipeline`. | |
| - `commit_author_relation`: whether the landing commit came from an author of the paper. | |
| - `prior_request`: an issue or pull request asked for the method before it landed. | |
| - `pr_author`, `merged_by`, `author_prior_merger`, `self_merged`, `human_reviewers`: who proposed and merged the pull request. A prior merger had merged a pull request in the framework before. | |
| - `days_open`, `core_lines`, `files`, `lines`, `tests`, `docs`, `deps`, `new_files`: size and contents of the change. | |
| ### proposals | |
| - `arxiv`, `method`, `framework`, `type`, `number`: the proposal, as a pull request (`pr`) or a request in an issue or discussion (`request`). | |
| - `outcome`: `open_no_reply`, `open_engaged`, `declined`, `redirected`, `stale_cleanup`, `closed_inactive`, `closed_no_comment` or `withdrawn`. | |
| - `reasons`: concerns the maintainers stated, such as `demand`, `surface`, `placement` or `evidence`. | |
| - `quote`: one short quote from the thread as evidence for the code. | |
| Thread texts stay on GitHub. The labelling rules and coding guides are in the [repository](https://github.com/pth2002/rl-method-tracker). | |
| ## Citation | |
| ```bibtex | |
| @misc{pan2026rlframeworks, | |
| title = {From {RL} Papers to Framework Code: Inclusion and Review in Seven Open-Source Training Frameworks}, | |
| author = {Pan, Taiheng}, | |
| year = {2026}, | |
| eprint = {2610.28027}, | |
| archivePrefix = {arXiv}, | |
| primaryClass = {cs.LG}, | |
| doi = {10.48550/arXiv.2610.28027}, | |
| url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.28027} | |
| } | |
| ``` | |
| ## License | |
| CC BY 4.0. arXiv titles come from arXiv metadata. | |