Short-term memory is what an AI Agent holds in its active Context Window during a session: recent user messages, intermediate tool-call results, the current state of its plan. It is often called a 'scratchpad'; once the session ends or the context overflows, it is gone. To work around this, long conversations rely on rolling windows, summarisation or promoting important facts into Long-Term Memory. A well-designed agent disciplines its short-term memory carefully — keeping what matters, dropping what doesn't — otherwise performance collapses as soon as the context fills up.
MEVZU N°124ISTANBULYEAR I — VOL. III
Glossary · Intermediate · 2023
Short-term Memory
The in-session memory an agent keeps within its context window — recent turns and intermediate state.
- EN — English term
- Short-term Memory
- TR — Turkish term
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