Memory Implementation & Patterns
Production-ready memory code, episodic vs semantic vs procedural memory, and system design patterns.
Last updated
After this section you can
- Implement the retrieve, extract and reconcile loop for memory that lasts across sessions
- Choose a short-term strategy that fits the model, using compaction instead of trimming history on current Claude models
- Design a memory record and decide what is worth writing to it
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Memory Implementation & Patterns
How an agent actually remembers: retrieve before the turn, extract and reconcile after it, keep each session inside the window without rewriting history, and design a store you can search, correct and delete from.
Key idea
Long-term memory is a loop wrapped around the agent loop: retrieve what is relevant before the turn, extract candidates after it, and reconcile each one against what is stored. Retrieval gets the attention; reconcile decides whether the store stays true.
Long-term memory is a loop around the agent loop. Reconcile is the step that keeps the store true.