Choosing the Right AI Agent Memory Strategy: A Decision-Tree Approach

A structured guide to selecting the right memory strategy for AI agents using a five-question decision tree. Covers the four memory types — working, semantic, episodic, and procedural — explaining what each assumes about the information it holds. The decision tree walks through persistence lifetime, session scope, fact vs. event classification, retrieval method, and whether reusable procedures are needed. Includes a summary table mapping each memory layer to its typical implementation, plus a pitfalls table listing common failure modes and their fixes. Real-world examples like customer support and coding agents illustrate how multiple memory layers combine into a full architecture.