folded-memory-implementation

A developer guide for hierarchical memory: instead of replacing history with a single flat summary, maintain three memory layers at different levels of detail. Old content is compressed more aggressively — not discarded. Each layer is independently stored and selectively recalled.

Prerequisite: read compact-memory-implementation first. Folded memory builds on the same fork-agent and trigger concepts.

The core idea

L1 Working memory    [ turn 38..50 ] — raw turns, full detail, short window
L2 Episodic memory   [ turn 10..37 ] — compressed episodes, medium detail
L3 Semantic memory   [ turn 1..9  ] — abstract facts and decisions, sparse

When L1 fills up → fork an episode compactor → move oldest L1 turns into L2. When L2 fills up → fork a semantic extractor → distill L2 into L3.