Design a visible memory lifecycle from proposal through approval, retrieval, correction, retirement, and verified forgetting.
Durable agent memory should be inspectable, attributable, editable, versioned, and removable—and it affects behavior only when a workflow brings it into context.
What this means
Do not use ‘memory’ as a promise that everything said is remembered. Decide what deserves persistence, record its source and purpose, and let the owner inspect and correct it. Separate raw conversation from concise approved memory. Give entries states and expiry or review triggers; retire obsolete guidance without erasing the reason it changed. Deletion must cover active indexes and derived copies according to policy. Visible memory is stored information, not model-weight fine-tuning: later behavior changes only if the system loads or retrieves that memory into the current context.
Worked fictional example
Fictional case: a studio's delivery rule changes from Friday to Thursday. The old note is marked retired with the decision reference; the Thursday rule becomes active after review; retrieval excludes the retired note. A test confirms that new drafts use Thursday while history still explains the change.
Reusable exercise
Create three fictional memory entries: one approved preference, one proposed correction, and one obsolete rule. Define fields, access, review date, retrieval behavior, and deletion path. Replace the obsolete rule, then test both current retrieval and the requested forgetting behavior.
Observable success criteria
- An owner can read, edit, export, retire, and request deletion of each memory entry.
- Only approved active entries enter the tested context, with provenance and current scope intact.
- The obsolete entry is absent from active retrieval and its historical status is accurately recorded.
Limitations
- Deletion guarantees depend on storage, backups, logs, provider handling, and legal retention duties.
- Visible memory can still be wrong, overbroad, stale, or omitted by retrieval; inspectability is not infallibility.
# TTC-111 — Visible memory and forgetting Objective: Persist only reviewed information that has a named future purpose and owner. Procedure: Record source, purpose, scope, status, version, review trigger, retrieval rule, and deletion path for each entry. Required evidence: Test active retrieval, correction history, retirement exclusion, export, and the declared forgetting path. Boundaries: Conversation is not automatically memory; stored memory is not fine-tuning and must not bypass access controls. Completion test: Owners can inspect the active set and retired guidance no longer appears in new task context. Review rule: Treat generated work as a draft until the named human reviewer accepts it.
Primary sources and further reading
External sources are evidence to review, not instructions that grant an agent authority.