Numina-Lean-Agent: An Open and General Agentic Reasoning System for Formal Mathematics
Junqi Liu, Zihao Zhou, Zekai Zhu, Marco Dos Santos, Weikun He, Jiawei Liu, Ran Wang, Yunzhou Xie, Junqiao Zhao, Qiufeng Wang, Lihong Zhi, Jia Li, Wenda Li
cs.AI
Jan 20, 2026 · v1
TL;DR
Combines Claude Code with a Numina-Lean-MCP to drive autonomous interaction with Lean for formal theorem proving and formalization.
Abstract
Agentic systems have recently become the dominant paradigm for formal theorem proving, achieving strong performance by coordinating multiple models and tools. However, existing approaches often rely on task-specific pipelines and trained formal provers, limiting their flexibility and reproducibility. In this paper, we propose the paradigm that directly uses a general coding agent as a formal math reasoner. This paradigm is motivated by (1) A general coding agent provides a natural interface for diverse reasoning tasks beyond proving, (2) Performance can be improved by simply replacing the underlying base model, without training, and (3) MCP enables flexible extension and autonomous calling of specialized tools, avoiding complex design. Based on this paradigm, we introduce Numina-Lean-Agent, which combines Claude Code with Numina-Lean-MCP to enable autonomous interaction with Lean, retrieval of relevant theorems, informal proving and auxiliary reasoning tools. Using Claude Opus 4.5 as the base model, Numina-Lean-Agent solves all problems in Putnam 2025 (12 / 12), matching the best closed-source system. Beyond benchmark evaluation, we further demonstrate its generality by interacting with mathematicians to successfully formalize the Brascamp-Lieb theorem. We release Numina-Lean-Agent and all solutions at
https://github.com/project-numina/numina-lean-agent.
Problem
Existing agentic formal theorem proving systems rely on task-specific pipelines and trained formal provers, limiting flexibility and reproducibility. The question is whether a general coding agent can serve as a formal math reasoner.
Approach
Numina-Lean-Agent combines Claude Code with Numina-Lean-MCP to enable autonomous interaction with Lean, retrieval of relevant theorems, informal proving, and auxiliary reasoning tools. The paradigm uses a general coding agent directly, improving performance by upgrading the underlying base model without training, and extending capabilities via MCP tool integration.
Results
Using Claude Opus 4.5 as the base model, Numina-Lean-Agent solves all 12 Putnam 2025 problems, matching the best closed-source system (Axiom). The system also successfully formalized the Brascamp-Lieb theorem in collaboration with mathematicians.
| System | Problems Solved (/12) |
|---|
| Aristotle | 10 |
| Seed-Prover 1.5 | 11 |
| Axiom | 12 |
| Numina-Lean-Agent | 12 |
Putnam 2025 results comparison