MEMORY HIERARCHIES FOR CONTEXT

CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING • Describe the three tiers in one sentence each. ◦ Answer: Hot is the active window, warm is compressed summaries retrievable in one lookup, and cold is full unabridged transcripts retrieved only on request. • Why are structured notes more reliable than a summary alone after compaction? ◦ Answer: They are written and updated exactly as the agent works, so they stay precise and are not re-paraphrased. • What stays in the window when a huge log is offloaded? ◦ Answer: A short pointer saying where the log is stored and the key lines, such as the main error. • In what order does the harness search when a user asks about old work? ◦ Answer: Warm summaries first, then the cold tier only if the summary lacks enough detail. • Why should offloaded files still follow permission rules? ◦ Answer: They may contain sensitive information, so they need the same protection as any other data. PART SIX: THE LIFECYCLE LAYER (BIRTH, LIFE, AND DEATH OF AN AGENT RUN) Every agent run has a life story. It is born when a request arrives, it lives while it works through its loop, and it ends when it succeeds, fails, or runs out of resources. The lifecycle layer is the part of the harness that manages that whole story. It decides how a run starts, what checkpoints and interceptors act along the way, how much the run is allowed to spend, and how it finishes cleanly. Think of a flight. There is a pre-flight checklist, a set of controls and warnings during the flight, a fuel limit, and a careful landing and shutdown procedure. A pilot who skipped any of these would be dangerous, however skilled. In this Part you will learn the equivalent procedures for agents.