hkust-nlp/WebExplorer-8B

TEXT GENERATIONConcurrency Cost:1Model Size:8BQuant:FP8Ctx Length:32kPublished:Sep 8, 2025License:apache-2.0Architecture:Transformer0.0K Open Weights Cold

WebExplorer-8B by hkust-nlp is an 8 billion parameter web agent model built on the Qwen3-8B base, designed for complex information-seeking tasks and long-horizon reasoning. It supports a 128K context length and up to 100 tool calling turns, mastering search and browse functionalities. This model achieves state-of-the-art performance among models under 10B parameters on various information-seeking benchmarks, making it suitable for advanced web navigation and multi-step problem solving.

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WebExplorer-8B: A Long-Horizon Web Agent

WebExplorer-8B, developed by hkust-nlp, is an 8 billion parameter web agent model specifically engineered for complex information-seeking and long-horizon reasoning tasks. Built upon the Qwen3-8B base model, it leverages a unique data generation approach involving model-based exploration and iterative query evolution to create challenging, multi-step reasoning tasks.

Key Capabilities

  • Long-horizon Reasoning: Supports an extensive 128K context length and up to 100 tool calling turns, enabling deep, multi-step problem-solving.
  • Advanced Tool Utilization: Proficiently uses both search and browse tools for effective web interaction and information extraction.
  • State-of-the-Art Performance: Achieves leading results among models under 10 billion parameters on benchmarks like BrowseComp-en/zh, WebWalkerQA, and FRAMES, often outperforming larger models like WebSailor-72B in specific tasks.
  • Robust Training: Developed through a two-phase approach: Supervised Fine-tuning (SFT) with high-quality trajectories, followed by Reinforcement Learning (RL) using the GRPO algorithm and progressive context expansion.

Good For

  • Complex Information Retrieval: Excels at tasks requiring multiple search queries and web page interactions to synthesize answers.
  • Automated Web Navigation: Ideal for applications needing an agent to autonomously browse and extract specific information from diverse online sources.
  • Long-Term Problem Solving: Its ability to handle up to 100 tool turns makes it suitable for intricate problems that require extended interaction with web environments.