KernelBlaster: Continual Cross-Task CUDA Optimization via Memory-Augmented In-Context Reinforcement Learning

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Dong, Kris Shengjun, Modi, Sahil, Nikiforov, Dima, Damani, Sana, Lin, Edward, Hari, Siva Kumar Sastry, Kozyrakis, Christos
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Dong, Kris Shengjun
Modi, Sahil
Nikiforov, Dima
Damani, Sana
Lin, Edward
Hari, Siva Kumar Sastry
Kozyrakis, Christos
author_facet Dong, Kris Shengjun
Modi, Sahil
Nikiforov, Dima
Damani, Sana
Lin, Edward
Hari, Siva Kumar Sastry
Kozyrakis, Christos
contents Optimizing CUDA code across multiple generations of GPU architectures is challenging, as achieving peak performance requires an extensive exploration of an increasingly complex, hardware-specific optimization space. Traditional compilers are constrained by fixed heuristics, whereas finetuning Large Language Models (LLMs) can be expensive. However, agentic workflows for CUDA code optimization have limited ability to aggregate knowledge from prior exploration, leading to biased sampling and suboptimal solutions. We propose KernelBlaster, a Memory-Augmented In-context Reinforcement Learning (MAIC-RL) framework designed to improve CUDA optimization search capabilities of LLM-based GPU coding agents. KernelBlaster enables agents to learn from experience and make systematically informed decisions on future tasks by accumulating knowledge into a retrievable Persistent CUDA Knowledge Base. We propose a novel profile-guided, textual-gradient-based agentic flow for CUDA generation and optimization to achieve high performance across generations of GPU architectures. KernelBlaster guides LLM agents to systematically explore high-potential optimization strategies beyond naive rewrites. Compared to the PyTorch baseline, our method achieves geometric mean speedups of 1.43x, 2.50x, and 1.50x on KernelBench Levels 1, 2, and 3, respectively. We release KernelBlaster as an open-source agentic framework, accompanied by a test harness, verification components, and a reproducible evaluation pipeline.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_14293
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle KernelBlaster: Continual Cross-Task CUDA Optimization via Memory-Augmented In-Context Reinforcement Learning
Dong, Kris Shengjun
Modi, Sahil
Nikiforov, Dima
Damani, Sana
Lin, Edward
Hari, Siva Kumar Sastry
Kozyrakis, Christos
Machine Learning
Artificial Intelligence
Optimizing CUDA code across multiple generations of GPU architectures is challenging, as achieving peak performance requires an extensive exploration of an increasingly complex, hardware-specific optimization space. Traditional compilers are constrained by fixed heuristics, whereas finetuning Large Language Models (LLMs) can be expensive. However, agentic workflows for CUDA code optimization have limited ability to aggregate knowledge from prior exploration, leading to biased sampling and suboptimal solutions. We propose KernelBlaster, a Memory-Augmented In-context Reinforcement Learning (MAIC-RL) framework designed to improve CUDA optimization search capabilities of LLM-based GPU coding agents. KernelBlaster enables agents to learn from experience and make systematically informed decisions on future tasks by accumulating knowledge into a retrievable Persistent CUDA Knowledge Base. We propose a novel profile-guided, textual-gradient-based agentic flow for CUDA generation and optimization to achieve high performance across generations of GPU architectures. KernelBlaster guides LLM agents to systematically explore high-potential optimization strategies beyond naive rewrites. Compared to the PyTorch baseline, our method achieves geometric mean speedups of 1.43x, 2.50x, and 1.50x on KernelBench Levels 1, 2, and 3, respectively. We release KernelBlaster as an open-source agentic framework, accompanied by a test harness, verification components, and a reproducible evaluation pipeline.
title KernelBlaster: Continual Cross-Task CUDA Optimization via Memory-Augmented In-Context Reinforcement Learning
topic Machine Learning
Artificial Intelligence
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.14293