Memory Lifecycle

How memories evolve over time — what to expect as an operator.

Storage

When the agent stores a memory, it's enriched automatically:

• Tagged with emotion (positive/negative/neutral)
• Flagged for importance if it's a decision, preference, or key fact
• Deduplicated against existing memories (near-duplicates merged, not stacked)

You don't control this — it happens transparently on every store.

Strengthening

Memories get stronger when:

• Recalled — every time a memory surfaces in conversation, its recall count increases
• Confirmed — if the user repeats or validates a fact, credibility rises
• Emotionally significant — strong emotions at storage time give a lasting boost

Fading

Memories weaken over time if unused:

• Facts and preferences fade slowly (months)
• Events and observations fade faster (weeks)
• Emotional memories resist fading — strong feelings preserve recall priority

This is automatic. You'll notice the agent naturally forgets trivial old details while retaining important ones.

Consolidation (during sleep)

The nightly sleep cycle actively maintains memory:

• Contradictions resolved — if a new fact conflicts with an old one, sleep picks the winner
• Related memories merged — redundant entries get consolidated into one richer memory
• Core knowledge promoted — repeatedly confirmed facts graduate to long-term core
• Stale entries pruned — memories with zero recalls and low importance eventually drop off

Timelines

The system groups related memories into narrative arcs — sequences of events that tell a story over time. These appear in the agent's context as compressed timeline summaries, giving it a sense of "what happened over the past week" rather than isolated facts.

What you control

Action	Effect
abmind store	Add a memory manually
abmind edit	Modify an existing memory
SLEEP_QUALITY env var	Controls how thorough nightly maintenance is
Classification level	Controls who can see a memory

Everything else is autonomous — the system manages its own memory health.