fleet-memory/hindsight-docs/docs/developer/api/memory-banks.md

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Memory Bank

Configure memory bank disposition, background, and behavior. Memory banks have characteristics:

• Banks are completely isolated from each other.
• You don't need to pre-create it, Hindsight will create it for you with default settings.
• Banks have a profile that influences how they form opinions from memories. (optional)

import Tabs from '@theme/Tabs'; import TabItem from '@theme/TabItem';

:::tip Prerequisites Make sure you've completed the Quick Start to install the client and start the server. :::

Creating a Memory Bank

from hindsight_client import Hindsight

client = Hindsight(base_url="http://localhost:8888")

client.create_bank(
    bank_id="my-bank",
    name="Research Assistant",
    background="I am a research assistant specializing in machine learning",
    disposition={
        "skepticism": 4,   # Questions claims, wants evidence
        "literalism": 3,   # Balanced interpretation
        "empathy": 3       # Balanced emotional consideration
    }
)

import { HindsightClient } from '@vectorize-io/hindsight-client';

const client = new HindsightClient({ baseUrl: 'http://localhost:8888' });

await client.createBank('my-bank', {
    name: 'Research Assistant',
    background: 'I am a research assistant specializing in machine learning',
    disposition: {
        skepticism: 4,
        literalism: 3,
        empathy: 3
    }
});

# Set background
hindsight bank background my-bank "I am a research assistant specializing in ML"

# Set disposition
hindsight bank disposition my-bank \
    --skepticism 4 \
    --literalism 3 \
    --empathy 3

Disposition Traits

Each trait is scored 1 to 5:

Trait	Low (1)	High (5)
Skepticism	Trusting, accepts information at face value	Skeptical, questions and doubts claims
Literalism	Flexible interpretation, reads between the lines	Literal interpretation, takes things exactly as stated
Empathy	Detached, focuses on facts and logic	Empathetic, considers emotional context

How Traits Affect Behavior

Skepticism influences how the bank evaluates claims:

# High skepticism (5)
"What's the source for this? Have these results been replicated?"

# Low skepticism (1)
"That sounds reasonable, let's proceed with that assumption."

Literalism affects interpretation:

# High literalism (5)
"The requirement says 'users' - that means all users, no exceptions."

# Low literalism (1)
"When they say 'users', they probably mean active users in this context."

Empathy shapes how emotional context is considered:

# High empathy (5)
"I understand this is frustrating. Let's find a solution that works for you."

# Low empathy (1)
"Here are the facts: Option A has 20% better performance than Option B."

Background

The background is a first-person narrative providing bank context:

client.create_bank(
    bank_id="financial-advisor",
    background="""I am a conservative financial advisor with 20 years of experience.
    I prioritize capital preservation over aggressive growth.
    I have seen multiple market crashes and believe in diversification."""
)

await client.createBank('financial-advisor', {
    background: `I am a conservative financial advisor with 20 years of experience.
    I prioritize capital preservation over aggressive growth.
    I have seen multiple market crashes and believe in diversification.`
});

Background influences:

• How questions are interpreted
• Perspective in responses
• Opinion formation context

Getting Bank Profile

# Using the low-level API
from hindsight_client_api import ApiClient, Configuration
from hindsight_client_api.api import DefaultApi

config = Configuration(host="http://localhost:8888")
api_client = ApiClient(config)
api = DefaultApi(api_client)

profile = api.get_bank_profile("my-bank")

print(f"Name: {profile.name}")
print(f"Background: {profile.background}")
print(f"Disposition: {profile.disposition}")

const profile = await client.getBankProfile('my-bank');

console.log(`Name: ${profile.name}`);
console.log(`Background: ${profile.background}`);
console.log(`Disposition:`, profile.disposition);

hindsight bank profile my-bank

Default Values

If not specified, banks use neutral defaults:

{
    "skepticism": 3,
    "literalism": 3,
    "empathy": 3,
    "background": ""
}

Disposition Templates

Common disposition configurations:

Use Case	Skepticism	Literalism	Empathy
Customer Support	2	2	5
Code Reviewer	4	5	2
Legal Analyst	5	5	2
Therapist/Coach	2	2	5
Research Assistant	4	3	3
Neutral (default)	3	3	3

# Customer support bank
client.create_bank(
    bank_id="support",
    background="I am a friendly customer support agent",
    disposition={
        "skepticism": 2,   # Trusting
        "literalism": 2,   # Flexible interpretation
        "empathy": 5       # Very empathetic
    }
)

# Code reviewer bank
client.create_bank(
    bank_id="reviewer",
    background="I am a thorough code reviewer focused on quality",
    disposition={
        "skepticism": 4,   # Questions assumptions
        "literalism": 5,   # Exact interpretation
        "empathy": 2       # Direct, fact-focused
    }
)

// Customer support bank
await client.createBank('support', {
    background: 'I am a friendly customer support agent',
    disposition: {
        skepticism: 2,
        literalism: 2,
        empathy: 5
    }
});

// Code reviewer bank
await client.createBank('reviewer', {
    background: 'I am a thorough code reviewer focused on quality',
    disposition: {
        skepticism: 4,
        literalism: 5,
        empathy: 2
    }
});

Bank Isolation

Each bank has:

• Separate memories — banks don't share memories
• Own disposition — traits are per-bank
• Independent opinions — formed from their own experiences

# Store to bank A
client.retain(bank_id="bank-a", content="Python is great")

# Bank B doesn't see it
results = client.recall(bank_id="bank-b", query="Python")
# Returns empty

// Store to bank A
await client.retain('bank-a', 'Python is great');

// Bank B doesn't see it
const results = await client.recall('bank-b', 'Python');
// Returns empty