From User Operations to Agentic Automation:Toward Intent-Oriented Software in the LLM EraOA
Foundation models(FMs)make possible a new software paradigm in which users express what they want to accomplish rather than how to operate an application.We call this paradigm“intent-oriented software”.Although recent FM capabilities suggest the feasibility of intent-oriented software,the concept itself has not been formally articulated or systematized.This article provides the first definition of intent-oriented software and examines how such systems can be engineered in practice.We propose two complementary architectural models for realizing intent-oriented software.1)A plug-in model.Intent-oriented software operates as a middleware layer that wraps around an existing operation-oriented application.It interprets user intents and translates them into the application’s existing UI operations without modifying the underlying operation-oriented software.2)A native model.FMs interpret user intents and generate the necessary backend actions(e.g.,API calls,function executions)directly without going through traditional UI.Both models aim to fundamentally transform the interaction paradigm by decoupling user intents from operational procedures,enabling users to accomplish goals without requiring procedural knowledge of application interfaces,while preserving the full functional expressiveness of underlying systems.We systemize key technical challenges,including intent understanding,execution planning,and error recovery,and identify research opportunities in software engineering to advance the development of robust,trustworthy,and user-centered intent-oriented software.
Tao Xie;De-Zhi Ran;Yuan Cao;Meng-Zhou Wu;Yu-Zhe Guo;Wei Yang
School of Computer Science,Peking University,Beijing 100871,China Key Laboratory of High Confidence Software Technologies(Peking University),Ministry of Education,Beijing 100871,China Beijing Tongming Lake Information Technology Application Innovation Center,Beijing 100176,China Institute of Systems for Advanced Computing,Fudan University,Shanghai 200433,China Shanghai Institute of Systems for Open Computing,Shanghai 200433,ChinaSchool of Computer Science,Peking University,Beijing 100871,China Key Laboratory of High Confidence Software Technologies(Peking University),Ministry of Education,Beijing 100871,China Beijing Tongming Lake Information Technology Application Innovation Center,Beijing 100176,ChinaSchool of Computer Science,Peking University,Beijing 100871,China Key Laboratory of High Confidence Software Technologies(Peking University),Ministry of Education,Beijing 100871,China Beijing Tongming Lake Information Technology Application Innovation Center,Beijing 100176,ChinaSchool of Computer Science,Peking University,Beijing 100871,China Key Laboratory of High Confidence Software Technologies(Peking University),Ministry of Education,Beijing 100871,China Beijing Tongming Lake Information Technology Application Innovation Center,Beijing 100176,ChinaSchool of Computer Science,Peking University,Beijing 100871,China Key Laboratory of High Confidence Software Technologies(Peking University),Ministry of Education,Beijing 100871,China Beijing Tongming Lake Information Technology Application Innovation Center,Beijing 100176,ChinaInstitute of Systems for Advanced Computing,Fudan University,Shanghai 200433,China
信息技术与安全科学
large language model(LLM)LLM agentsoftware engineeringhuman-computer interaction
《Journal of Computer Science & Technology》 2026 (1)
P.245-257,13
supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos.92464301,U25A6023,623B2006.
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