LearNAT: Learning NL2SQL with AST-guided Task Decomposition for Large Language Models

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Hauptverfasser: Liao, Weibin, Gao, Xin, Jia, Tianyu, Qiu, Rihong, Zhu, Yifan, Lin, Yang, Chu, Xu, Zhao, Junfeng, Wang, Yasha
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2025
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author Liao, Weibin
Gao, Xin
Jia, Tianyu
Qiu, Rihong
Zhu, Yifan
Lin, Yang
Chu, Xu
Zhao, Junfeng
Wang, Yasha
author_facet Liao, Weibin
Gao, Xin
Jia, Tianyu
Qiu, Rihong
Zhu, Yifan
Lin, Yang
Chu, Xu
Zhao, Junfeng
Wang, Yasha
contents Natural Language to SQL (NL2SQL) has emerged as a critical task for enabling seamless interaction with databases. Recent advancements in Large Language Models (LLMs) have demonstrated remarkable performance in this domain. However, existing NL2SQL methods predominantly rely on closed-source LLMs leveraging prompt engineering, while open-source models typically require fine-tuning to acquire domain-specific knowledge. Despite these efforts, open-source LLMs struggle with complex NL2SQL tasks due to the indirect expression of user query objectives and the semantic gap between user queries and database schemas. Inspired by the application of reinforcement learning in mathematical problem-solving to encourage step-by-step reasoning in LLMs, we propose LearNAT (Learning NL2SQL with AST-guided Task Decomposition), a novel framework that improves the performance of open-source LLMs on complex NL2SQL tasks through task decomposition and reinforcement learning. LearNAT introduces three key components: (1) a Decomposition Synthesis Procedure that leverages Abstract Syntax Trees (ASTs) to guide efficient search and pruning strategies for task decomposition, (2) Margin-aware Reinforcement Learning, which employs fine-grained step-level optimization via DPO with AST margins, and (3) Adaptive Demonstration Reasoning, a mechanism for dynamically selecting relevant examples to enhance decomposition capabilities. Extensive experiments on two benchmark datasets, Spider and BIRD, demonstrate that LearNAT enables a 7B-parameter open-source LLM to achieve performance comparable to GPT-4, while offering improved efficiency and accessibility.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_02327
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle LearNAT: Learning NL2SQL with AST-guided Task Decomposition for Large Language Models
Liao, Weibin
Gao, Xin
Jia, Tianyu
Qiu, Rihong
Zhu, Yifan
Lin, Yang
Chu, Xu
Zhao, Junfeng
Wang, Yasha
Computation and Language
Natural Language to SQL (NL2SQL) has emerged as a critical task for enabling seamless interaction with databases. Recent advancements in Large Language Models (LLMs) have demonstrated remarkable performance in this domain. However, existing NL2SQL methods predominantly rely on closed-source LLMs leveraging prompt engineering, while open-source models typically require fine-tuning to acquire domain-specific knowledge. Despite these efforts, open-source LLMs struggle with complex NL2SQL tasks due to the indirect expression of user query objectives and the semantic gap between user queries and database schemas. Inspired by the application of reinforcement learning in mathematical problem-solving to encourage step-by-step reasoning in LLMs, we propose LearNAT (Learning NL2SQL with AST-guided Task Decomposition), a novel framework that improves the performance of open-source LLMs on complex NL2SQL tasks through task decomposition and reinforcement learning. LearNAT introduces three key components: (1) a Decomposition Synthesis Procedure that leverages Abstract Syntax Trees (ASTs) to guide efficient search and pruning strategies for task decomposition, (2) Margin-aware Reinforcement Learning, which employs fine-grained step-level optimization via DPO with AST margins, and (3) Adaptive Demonstration Reasoning, a mechanism for dynamically selecting relevant examples to enhance decomposition capabilities. Extensive experiments on two benchmark datasets, Spider and BIRD, demonstrate that LearNAT enables a 7B-parameter open-source LLM to achieve performance comparable to GPT-4, while offering improved efficiency and accessibility.
title LearNAT: Learning NL2SQL with AST-guided Task Decomposition for Large Language Models
topic Computation and Language
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.02327