Memory
Memori
A system's ability to carry information from one request to the next.
Memory is how a system carries information forward: what the user told it last week, what the project decided last month, what the last session found before it ran out of context.
There are three layers, and they have different lifetimes. The session is the conversation itself, ending when it ends. The project layer is files on disk, checked into the repository, that describe conventions and decisions. The user layer is preferences that follow the person across every conversation.
The failure mode is stale memory. A memory that says the user prefers metric units, written when they worked in manufacturing, will keep polluting every later answer. Good memory systems therefore record not just the fact but when it was learned and what it applied to, and they expire entries that are no longer confirmed.
Related terms
Context Engineering
Deciding what goes into the model's context, and what stays out.
Session
One bounded run of work with an agent, from the first message to the end.
Compaction
Summarising the old conversation so the new part fits in the window.
Progressive Disclosure
Show the model only the detail it needs right now, and load more when it asks.
Context Window
Everything the model sees on one request. Finite, and it decides what fits.
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