Agents · 2023– · state for intelligent systems
Memory Architecture
The layered state of an intelligent system: context windows, vector stores, structured records and episodic traces — engineered as one memory hierarchy.
ModLensAgents
Interactive Diagram
Focus the lens
Click any component to read what it does. Signal direction follows the edges.
layerWorking Context. The active window — expensive, limited, immediate.
Core idea
Memory is a hierarchy with different latencies and fidelities. Good systems choose the right layer for each fact, and move information between layers deliberately.
Why it exists
Context windows are small and expensive; systems that pretend otherwise lose coherence, money or both.
Data Flow
What moves through the system
- 01Working context holds the active reasoning state.
- 02Vector memory supplies relevant past information by similarity.
- 03Structured stores hold exact facts and constraints.
- 04Episodic traces record what happened for audit and learning.
Strengths
- + Coherence across long interactions
- + Cost control via tiered recall
- + Auditability through episodic traces
Limitations
- − Consistency across layers is engineering work
- − Grounding quality gates everything above it
Applications
- · Long-horizon assistants
- · Enterprise knowledge systems
- · Agent runtimes