Should You Remember This?
The most common failure mode in a long-lived AI agent isn't forgetting — it's remembering too much. Every rule you add to its always-loaded config costs tokens and attention forever. Run these five questions before persisting anything.
The Core Principle
A memory is only worth its permanent cost if removing it would cause the agent to make mistakes. Everything else is noise that dilutes the signal in the rules that matter. When in doubt, don't write it — wait for a second occurrence.
The Five Questions
Run all five before writing to memory or config. Any "no" is a reason to stop and reconsider.
Catalog Conflict
Does this fight or duplicate something the agent already knows? Search the existing rules first. If it's already covered, update that entry instead of adding a second one — two rules on the same topic drift apart and contradict each other over time.
Maintenance Tax
Will this still be true and useful in six months? Is it a reaction to one bad session, or a recurring pattern? One-off mistakes don't need permanent rules. If it's a single occurrence, note it and wait — write the rule only if it happens again.
Compounder
Does this make other rules or behaviors work better? Rules that interact with and reinforce each other earn their place. A rule that sits alone, referenced by nothing, is a candidate for deletion later — and a sign it may not be worth adding now.
First-Run
Is the application concrete and immediate? Can you point to a specific moment where this rule would fire? If the scenario is hypothetical — "this might come up someday" — defer it. Speculative rules accumulate faster than real ones and are rarely triggered.
Right Location
Where does this actually belong? Always-loaded rules, an on-demand knowledge file, project-specific state, and credentials each have a home. Putting a rule in the wrong tier either wastes the token budget of the always-loaded layer or buries it where it'll never load. Decide the destination before you write.
Applying the Gate
If: Fails Catalog Conflict
Then: Update the existing entry instead of creating a new one
If: Fails Maintenance Tax
Then: Don’t persist it yet — note it and wait for a second occurrence
If: Fails Right Location
Then: Move it to the correct tier before writing
If: Passes all five
Then: Write it — with a one-line justification of why
The Test
Before saving, ask: "Would removing this cause the agent to make a mistake?" If not, cut it. A lean memory of rules that all earn their keep beats a sprawling one where the important rules are lost in the clutter.