Rosetta: Automating First-Principles Performance Modeling Using Multi-Agent LLMs

Abstract

Analytical performance models --- derivations of throughput or speedup from hardware parameters --- make claims independently verifiable and expose binding constraints, yet rarely accompany architecture papers because building one by hand takes weeks of expert effort. We present Rosetta, a multi-agent LLM pipeline that automatically generates first-principles analytical models from research paper PDFs. Given a paper as sole input, Rosetta produces a mathematical specification, an executable Python model, and a plain-English interpretation --- all autonomously, with zero human intervention. The formalization process itself is the primary value: it surfaces implicit assumptions and identifies missing parameters. Four design decisions address failure modes of naïve LLM-based generation: a scientific constitution that prohibits circular reasoning, verify-repair loops with independent critic agents, dual verification separating functional correctness from scientific validity, and a best-of-$N$ ensemble that exploits LLM stochasticity. We evaluate Rosetta across three complementary tracks: expert evaluation of 12 landmark papers (CS1), automated scoring of 97 unfiltered ISCA 2025 and HPCA 2026 papers (CS2), and author self-evaluation by six active research groups (CS3). Across CS1, specification quality scores 4--5/5 on 10 of 12 papers with zero significant hallucinations; across CS2, 56\% of fit-screened papers reach Tier~A insight quality. The strongest finding comes from CS3: Rosetta's output led to revised claims and new experiments in active submissions, and five of six author-evaluators said they would use it again.