<\/span><\/h3>\nAfter the defined period, the temporary preference expires. It no longer enters normal retrieval. A lifecycle process later deletes or archives it according to policy.<\/p>\n
This example shows why memory needs explicit transitions. Capture, validation, retrieval, correction, and expiration are one system, not separate afterthoughts.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n<\/span>Common Mistakes That Make Memory Less Reliable<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/span>Storing Complete Transcripts as Durable Truth<\/span><\/h3>\nTranscripts mix facts, guesses, copied content, sensitive details, and temporary instructions. They may remain useful as controlled records, but they should not become universal prompt material.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Retrieving by Similarity Alone<\/span><\/h3>\nSimilarity cannot enforce tenant isolation, permissions, validity, or purpose. Apply security and lifecycle filters before ranking eligible records.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Letting Agents Write High-Impact Facts Automatically<\/span><\/h3>\nAn agent inference about identity, eligibility, risk, or policy can cause downstream harm. Use trusted source checks and human review for consequential writes.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Never Forgetting<\/span><\/h3>\nFacts become stale. Preferences change. Policies receive new versions. A memory system without expiration and deletion eventually becomes a contradiction engine.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Measuring Storage Instead of Outcomes<\/span><\/h3>\nRecord counts and retrieval speed do not prove value. Memory should improve defined tasks while staying within security, latency, and cost boundaries.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n<\/span>Manage Security, Privacy, and Prompt Injection<\/span><\/h2>\nMemory creates a durable attack surface. Malicious or misleading instructions can survive beyond the session where they first appeared. Later agents may treat them as trusted context.<\/p>\n
Never promote untrusted content directly into procedural memory. Separate data from instructions, label provenance, and scan writes for suspicious control language. High-impact memories should require trusted sources or approval.<\/p>\n
Use tenant isolation at the storage and query layers. Apply least-privilege access to both human users and agent identities.<\/p>\n
Minimize sensitive data before storage. If an agent needs an account status, it may not need complete payment details. Where feasible, store references to authoritative systems instead.<\/p>\n
Also support correction and deletion workflows. A delete request must address the primary record, indexes, caches, summaries, and derived copies under your policy.<\/p>\n
Finally, log memory reads and writes. Your team should know who created a record, which agent retrieved it, and which action followed.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n<\/span>Evaluate Memory With a Production Scorecard