fleet-memory/hindsight-docs/docs/developer/api/main-methods.mdx

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# Main Methods

Hindsight provides three core operations: **retain**, **recall**, and **reflect**.

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:::tip Prerequisites
Make sure you've [installed Hindsight](../installation) and completed the [Quick Start](./quickstart).
:::

## Retain: Store Information

Store conversations, documents, and facts into a memory bank.

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```bash
# Store a single fact
hindsight memory retain my-bank "Alice joined Google in March 2024 as a Senior ML Engineer"

# Store from a file
hindsight memory retain-files my-bank conversation.txt --context "Daily standup"

# Store multiple files
hindsight memory retain-files my-bank docs/
```

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**What happens:** Content is processed by an LLM to extract rich facts, identify entities, and build connections in a knowledge graph.

**See:** [Retain Details](./retain) for advanced options and parameters.

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## Recall: Search Memories

Search for relevant memories using multi-strategy retrieval.

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```bash
# Basic search
hindsight memory recall my-bank "What does Alice do at Google?"

# Search with options
hindsight memory recall my-bank "What happened last spring?" \
    --budget high \
    --max-tokens 8192 \
    --fact-type world,experience

# Verbose output
hindsight memory recall my-bank "Tell me about Alice" -v
```

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**What happens:** Four search strategies (semantic, keyword, graph, temporal) run in parallel, results are fused and reranked.

**See:** [Recall Details](./recall) for tuning quality vs latency.

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## Reflect: Reason with Disposition

Generate disposition-aware responses using memories and observations.

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```bash
# Basic reflect
hindsight memory reflect my-bank "Should we adopt TypeScript for our backend?"

# With higher reasoning budget
hindsight memory reflect my-bank "Analyze our tech stack" --budget high
```

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**What happens:** Memories and observations are recalled, bank disposition is applied, and the LLM reasons through the evidence to generate a response.

**See:** [Reflect Details](./reflect) for disposition configuration.

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## Comparison

| Feature | Retain | Recall | Reflect |
|---------|--------|--------|---------|
| **Purpose** | Store information | Find information | Reason about information |
| **Input** | Raw text/documents | Search query | Question/prompt |
| **Output** | Memory IDs | Ranked facts + observations | Reasoned response |
| **Uses LLM** | Yes (extraction) | No | Yes (generation) |
| **Uses observations** | No | Yes | Yes |
| **Disposition** | No | No | Yes |

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## Next Steps

- [**Retain**](./retain) — Advanced options for storing memories
- [**Recall**](./recall) — Tuning search quality and performance
- [**Reflect**](./reflect) — Configuring disposition
- [**Memory Banks**](./memory-banks) — Managing memory bank disposition