# Symmetry-Aware Transformer Training for Automated Planning Source: [Symmetry-Aware Transformer Training for Automated Planning]() Collection index: [llms.txt]() Data updated: 2026-06-30T05:00:08.405Z Authors: Markus Fritzsche, Elliot Gestrin, Jendrik Seipp Published: 2025-08-11T08:23:34.000Z ## Abstract While transformers excel in many settings, their application in the field of automated planning is limited. Prior work like PlanGPT, a state-of-the-art decoder-only transformer, struggles with extrapolation from easy to hard planning problems. This in turn stems from problem symmetries: planning tasks can be represented with arbitrary variable names that carry no meaning beyond being identifiers. This causes a combinatorial explosion of equivalent representations that pure transformers cannot efficiently learn from. We propose a novel contrastive learning objective to make transformers symmetry-aware and thereby compensate for their lack of inductive bias. Combining this with architectural improvements, we show that transformers can be efficiently trained for either plan-generation or heuristic-prediction. Our results across multiple planning domains demonstrate that our symmetry-aware training effectively and efficiently addresses the limitations of PlanGPT. ## Recorded benchmark results A research result applies to its stated dataset, split, metric and evaluation configuration. Compare like-for-like settings, preserve the metric's unit and direction, and distinguish paper-reported results from independent reproduction. The best result recorded here is not a claim of exhaustive, current global coverage. - [Generalized Planning on Gripper (Extrapolation)](): Generalized Planning; Gripper (Extrapolation); Coverage: 79. - [Automated Planning on Gripper (val)](): Automated Planning; Gripper (val); QSS: 1. - [Automated Planning on Blocks (interpolation)](): Automated Planning; Blocks (Interpolation); Normalized Coverage Score: 100. - [Plan Generation on Blocks 1.0 (val)](): Plan Generation; Blocks 1.0 (val); QS: 1. - [Plan Generation on Blocks 1.0 (interpolation)](): Plan Generation; Blocks 1.0 (interpolation); QS Score: 100. - [Plan Generation on Blocks 1.0 (extrapolation)](): Plan Generation; Blocks 1.0 (extrapolation); QS: 0.13. - [Plan Generation on Gripper 1.0 (val)](): Plan Generation; Gripper 1.0 (val); Quality Score (QS): 0.99. - [Plan Generation on Gripper 1.0 (interpolation)](): Plan Generation; Gripper 1.0 (interpolation); QS: 1. - [Plan Generation on Gripper 1.0 (extrapolation)](): Plan Generation; Gripper 1.0 (extrapolation); QS: 0.77. - [Plan Generation on Visitall 1.0 (val)](): Plan Generation; Visitall 1.0 (val); QS Score: 100. - [Plan Generation on Visitall 1.0 (interpolation)](): Plan Generation; Visitall 1.0 (interpolation); QS: 1. - [Plan Generation on Visitall 1.0 (extrapolation)](): Plan Generation; Visitall 1.0 (extrapolation); QS: 60. - [Automated Planning on Gripper (interpolation)](): Automated Planning; Gripper (Interpolation); QSS: 1. - [Automated Planning on Visitall (val)](): Automated Planning; VisitAll (val); QSS: 1. - [Automated Planning on Visitall (extrapolation)](): Automated Planning; VisitAll (Extrapolation); QSS: 98. - [Automated Planning on Blocks (val)](): Automated Planning; Blocks (val); QSS: 1. - [Automated Planning on Blocks (extrapolation)](): Automated Planning; Blocks (Extrapolation); QSS: 1. - [Automated Planning on Gripper (extrapolation)](): Automated Planning; Gripper (Extrapolation); QSS: 97. - [Generalized Planning on Gripper (val)](): Generalized Planning; Gripper (val); Coverage: 100. - [Generalized Planning on Gripper (Interpolation)](): Generalized Planning; Gripper (Interpolation); Coverage: 100. - [Generalized Planning on VisitAll (val)](): Generalized Planning; VisitAll (val); Coverage: 100. - [Generalized Planning on VisitAll (Interpolation)](): Generalized Planning; VisitAll (Interpolation); Coverage: 100. - [Generalized Planning on VisitAll (Extrapolation)](): Generalized Planning; VisitAll (Extrapolation); Coverage: 64. - [Automated Planning on Visitall (interpolation)](): Automated Planning; VisitAll (Interpolation); QSS: 100. - [Plan Generation on Logistics 1.0 (interpolation)](): Plan Generation; Logistics 1.0 (interpolation); QS Score: 24. - [Generalized Planning on Blocks (val)](): Generalized Planning; Blocks (val); Coverage: 100. - [Generalized Planning on Blocks (Interpolation)](): Generalized Planning; Blocks (Interpolation); Coverage: 100. - [Automated Planning on Logistics (interpolation)](): Automated Planning; Logistics (Interpolation); QSS: 100. - [Plan Generation on Logistics 1.0 (val)](): Plan Generation; Logistics 1.0 (val); Quality Score (QS): 0. - [Plan Generation on Logistics 1.0 (extrapolation)](): Plan Generation; Logistics 1.0 (extrapolation); QS: 0. - [Generalized Planning on Blocks (Extrapolation)](): Generalized Planning; Blocks (Extrapolation); Coverage: 13. - [Generalized Planning on Logistics (Interpolation)](): Generalized Planning; Logistics (Interpolation); Coverage: 26. - [Generalized Planning on Logistics (Extrapolation)](): Generalized Planning; Logistics (Extrapolation); Coverage: 0. - [Generalized Planning on Logistics (val)](): Generalized Planning; Logistics (val); Coverage: 0. - [Automated Planning on Logistics (val)](): Automated Planning; Logistics (val); QSS: not recorded. ## Original sources and implementation [Original paper]() [PDF]()