Methods and apparatus for discovering codeword decoding order in a serial interference cancellation receiver using reinforcement learning. In an embodiment, a method is provided for decoding codewords in a multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) communication network. The method includes determining a decoding order based on a state space and a decoding policy, decoding selected codewords based on the decoding order, updating the decoding policy based on the decoding results and the state space, updating the state space based on decoding results, and updating the decoding order based on the state space and the decoding policy.