| name | teso-black-box-optimization |
| title | TESO Tabu Enhanced Simulation Optimization for Noisy Black Box Problems |
| version | 0.0.2 |
| engine | skillxiv-v0.0.2-claude-opus-4.6 |
| license | MIT |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.24007 |
| keywords | ["black-box optimization","metaheuristic","tabu search","noisy evaluation","memory-guided search","simulation optimization"] |
| description | Apply tabu search enhanced with short-term tabu lists and long-term elite memory for simulation optimization with expensive, noisy evaluations. Balances exploration (avoiding cycling) and exploitation (leveraging best solutions). Use for multimodal landscapes where function evaluations are costly and multiple function calls per solution are impractical. |
When to Use This Skill
- Simulation-based optimization (queueing, supply chain, manufacturing)
- Expensive black-box functions (each evaluation costs seconds/minutes)
- Noisy evaluations where reruns give different results
- Multimodal landscapes with many local optima
- Scenarios where gradient information is unavailable
- Production quality optimization where iterations are limited
When NOT to Use This Skill
- Smooth, differentiable objectives (use gradient-based methods)
- Real-time optimization with tight latency budgets (<1 second per evaluation)
- Problems with guaranteed noise-free evaluations (simpler methods sufficient)
- Few decision variables (<5) where exhaustive search is feasible
- Highly convex landscapes (no need for tabu memory)
The Simulation Optimization Challenge
Many real-world problems require optimization through simulation:
Problem: Design a hospital queueing system
Variables: Number of doctors, nurses, waiting areas
Evaluation: Run 1000-hour simulation → collect wait times, satisfaction scores
Issue: Each simulation takes 2 minutes. Noisy (random arrivals differ each run).
Landscape is multimodal (different staffing configs may be optimal).
Traditional optimization fails because:
- Expensive evaluations: Can only afford ~1000 function evals total
- Noisy gradients: Can't compute meaningful derivatives
- Multimodality: Local optima are abundant; simple methods get stuck
- No replication budget: Averaging multiple runs per solution wastes evals
TESO addresses all four through memory-guided tabu search.
Core Algorithm: Tabu Search with Memory
Tabu search maintains two memory structures:
1. Short-Term Tabu List
Prevents the algorithm from revisiting recent solutions (avoiding cycles):
Iteration 0: Visit solution X
Iteration 1: Explore neighbors of X
Iteration 2: Find neighbor Y with improvement
Iteration 3: Visit Y (move from X → Y)
Iteration 4: X is now TABU (forbidden) for T=5 iterations
Iteration 5: Neighbors of Y are explored, but can't go back to X
Iteration 6: Can't go to X (still tabu)
...
Iteration 9: X becomes non-tabu again
This prevents cycling: once you leave a region, you can't immediately return.
2. Long-Term Elite Memory
Tracks high-performing solutions discovered. Periodically restart search from elite solutions:
Best solutions found:
- Solution A: Objective = 85.2 (iteration 5)
- Solution B: Objective = 87.1 (iteration 18)
- Solution C: Objective = 86.9 (iteration 42)
Later, if stuck at objective 80, restart from elite B or C
(perturbed slightly to encourage new exploration)