How Conversation Memory Actually Works in AI Agents
Dev.to AI
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Generative AI
AI Tools
How Conversation Memory Actually Works in AI Agents Ask most people how AI assistants remember things, and you'll get vague answers about context windows and vector databases. The reality is both simpler and nuanced than the marketing suggests. I've been running a self-hosted AI assistant (OpenClaw) as my daily driver for several months. The memory system is one of the things I've spent the most time thinking about, because it's the difference between a useful assistant and a forgetful chatbot. Here's how it actually works - not in theory, but in practice.