# From Dead Code and Static Requirements to Working Engines: Software Revival with Coding Agents

> ReviveBench evaluates repair of nonrunning software and source-unavailable implementation of bounded computational and transactional engines from open specifications, using hidden reference-based checks. It also audits grading defects that can wrongly accept or reject reconstructions.

- Authors: Tianyu Liu; Dingyuan Dai; Yufan Du; Zhen Yang
- Venue: arXiv
- Status: Preprint
- Publication / posting date: September 28, 2026
- Date source: First arXiv v1 submission; no formal venue publication was verified.
- First arXiv submission: September 28, 2026
- arXiv: 2609.36161
- Reviewed arXiv version: v1
- DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2609.36161
- Sources reviewed: 2026-10-20
- Added to the catalog: 2026-10-20
- Original paper: <https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.36161>
- PDF: <https://arxiv.org/pdf/2609.36161v1>
- BibTeX: <https://awesomerea.org/papers/citations/paper-revivebench.bib>
- Catalog page: <https://awesomerea.org/papers/paper-revivebench/>
- Record JSON: <https://awesomerea.org/papers/paper-revivebench/record.json>
- Chinese version: [简体中文](https://awesomerea.org/zh/papers/paper-revivebench/index.md)

## Scope and limitations

Studies ten revival and thirteen bounded engine tasks; reconstruction receives public specifications and three worked examples. Most model/task cells have one or two seeds; the reconstruction matrix reports the best eligible run. Excluded infrastructure failures and differing API adapters limit comparisons. Task-level pass thresholds do not require every check to pass, and CFD passes cannot establish numerical-solver capability. Verifier audits and contamination controls do not prove general equivalence or rule out prior exposure.

## Why it fits this collection

Connects software reconstruction with audits of the tests used to judge its correctness.

## Publication and review notes

The four-author v1 identity matches arXiv and DataCite, which registered the arXiv DOI on 2026-09-30. The article uses the arXiv non-exclusive license. No author-linked public benchmark/verifier package or its code/data license was verified in the reviewed full text and focused search.

## Primary sources

1. <https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.36161>
2. <https://arxiv.org/html/2609.36161v1>
3. <https://api.datacite.org/dois/10.48550/arxiv.2609.36161>

## About this entry

Reviewed against the paper and its primary sources. Cite the original authors using the linked paper or BibTeX.
Original editorial content: MIT. Linked projects, papers and assets retain their own rights and licenses.