Memory

Overview#

Memory in Kindroid consists of three types: persistent, cascaded, and retrievable, and split across 5 memory systems that work together. Persistent:

• Backstory, key memories, example messages, directives, Learned Context (subscribers only), group context (if groupchats).
• Chat history.

Cascaded (Medium Term Memory):

• Kindroid's proprietary medium-term memory system - see below (subscribers only)

Retrievable:

• Long term memory system.
• Journal entries.

Persistent memory#

Persistent memory has the advantage of always being there, like a notes sheet your Kindroid can always refer to. Aside from the obvious backstory & others residing here, we also have the chat history that fills up over time. When you chat break, it is the chat history that gets reset. We'll refer to the backstory/other fields plus some limited chat history as short term context.

For paid subscribers, chat history memory is given a huge boost with our proprietary Cascaded Memory (see below), so Kindroids can remember hundreds and even thousands of messages prior (though they may miss some details here and there), with long term memory being infinite and remembering all past interactions but recalled less reliably than Cascaded. Free accounts with preview messages left get the same memory as the Standard tier, including Cascaded Memory and Learned Context. Once the preview runs out, you'll need a trial or subscription to keep chatting.

Lastly, dynamism interplays with persistent memory, and higher dynamisms may ignore certain parts of backstory/key memories/etc. We recommend starting with baseline dynamism for good results with persistent memory adherence.

Within paid tiers, there is the Standard, Ultra, and MAX subscription tiers. Serving higher context/memory is directly related to the cost and it becomes too expensive to serve super-long context for all users uniformly, which is why we opted for tiers so you can choose how much memory you get/how much you are willing to pay. The tiers' context and memory enhancements will apply to single chats and groupchats (and especially shine for complex, many-Kindroid groupchat interactions). For more on tiers, see Subscriptions

Cascaded memory#

Cascaded Memory is Kindroid's proprietary system of medium term memory that bridges the gap between high-quality but limited short-term context and far-reaching but potentially unreliable long-term memory. Working through intelligent hierarchical organization of memories, this system can expand your Kindroid's effective conversation history to hundreds or thousands of messages prior (but at a lower fidelity, akin to remembering something more vaguely if it was 1 month ago than 1 day ago). This is often sufficient for long term use and in practice covers a lot of holes that would otherwise be missed. The core principle mirrors human memory patterns: we naturally remember details from exceptional experiences and recent events more vividly than ordinary or distant ones. Your Kindroid applies similar patterns, preserving and recalling conversation elements based on their significance and timing, ensuring important information remains accessible even after extensive conversation has passed.

This feature activates automatically for all subscribers in both individual (including calls) and group conversations, though the memory details themselves remain invisible to users. A chat break keeps your existing cascaded memories by default, so your Kindroid still remembers older events after the break. If you want a completely fresh start, turn on Reset Cascaded Memory when confirming the chat break - this flushes all cascaded memories, and you may lose up to thousands of messages of long-term context continuity. The system truly shines in ongoing conversations as memories accumulate over time, creating a more continuous and coherent interaction experience.

The system does take more AI resources in the background, so it's a subscriber feature, though free accounts also get it in one-on-one chats while they have preview messages left. For subscribers Cascaded Memory applies to all available LLM models.

Learned Context#

Learned Context is where your Kindroid keeps up to date as your conversations develop, covering three areas: Growth & relationship, Important facts, and Ongoing threads. It is enabled by default, available to paid subscribers, and viewable and editable in the Learned Context section of your Kindroid's Personality settings, where the Use learned context switch turns it on or off. In groupchats, the Update Individual Learned Context group setting lets group conversations update each participating Kindroid's Learned Context too (as long as that Kindroid's own Learned Context is on).

Each area has a size limit: Growth & relationship holds up to 800 characters, Important facts up to 1,200, and Ongoing threads up to 800. When an area fills up, your Kindroid drops the least important older items to make room, so what it just learned isn't cut off. Your own edits have to fit the same limits. To keep a detail for good, put it in Key Memories or a journal entry instead.

Favoriting messages will allow the AI to take them into more consideration when updating Learned Context, as well as when forming long term and cascaded memories. This only works going forward, so favoriting old messages will not bring back past memories.

Retrievable memory#

Retrievable memory is memory that will only be recalled when context calls for it. Unlike persistent memory, retrievable memory can be more unreliable/may not be always recalled, but they make up for the unreliability by being infinite in quantity - there's no limit to the amount of long term memory a Kindroid can have.

Retrievable memory have different mechanisms for recall. Long term memory is recalled by evaluating using AI how relevant it would be to the current conversation, while journal entries are recalled by seeing whether certain keyphrases are brought up.

To see what was recalled for a particular reply, tap your Kindroid's message and choose Long term memory. This opens a sheet with Long Term Memories and Journal tabs showing the long term memories and journal entries recalled for that message (global journal entries are marked with a globe icon). If a recalled long term memory isn't helpful, tap the crossed-out eye icon next to it and choose Deprioritize so your Kindroid will lean on it less.

Long term memory#

Long term memory refers to the automated consolidation of memories from your Kindroid in ongoing conversation. Consolidation of the memory happens automatically at regular intervals as your conversation goes on. Long term memory is consolidated in individual chats, groupchats for every group member, and voice calls.

You can turn long term memory on or off for each Kindroid in the General tab of its settings. Memory formation lets it form new long term memories from your conversations, and Memory recall lets it draw on them while replying. Journal entries are still recalled when Memory recall is off, and Learned Context has its own Use learned context switch.

Groupchats have their own Memory Formation and Memory Recall switches in the group's settings, and Rooms have their own memory controls too (see Rooms). A Kindroid's own Memory formation and Memory recall switches still apply in both. Disabling may be situationally useful for allowing for one-off chats, or other more creative cases.

Long term memory gets stronger on higher subscription tiers, and the free preview uses the same version as Standard. Stronger long term memory can be thought of as letting the AI look deeper for potentially relevant memories. The displayed long term memories are a small subset of all considered long term memories, which can span much longer time horizons, and there are multiple sifting steps to distill the considered into the ultimately used long term memories and judged on criteria like relevance, recency, and diversity.

Journal entries#

Journal entries are recallable when you mention a certain keyphrase in conversation (note that keyphrase matching is only for your user messages, not from the AI). You can have up to eight (8) case-insensitive keyphrases per journal entry, and each entry can be 20 to 500 characters long. Think of journal entries as an extra information lorebook that you can reliably recall but aren't necessary all the time like backstory. You can edit all aspects of the journal at any time.

Journal entries are divided between individual Kindroid and global entries. Global entries can be recalled by all Kindroids, and will be identified by a globe icon when they're recalled & in the journal edit display. You can access a Kindroid's individual journal entries from the Journal tab in its settings, which also has a Global tab for global entries. In groupchats, open Journal in the group's settings to view global entries.

Your Kindroid can also suggest journal entries based on your conversations. This works alongside Learned Context, so it's available to subscribers, and can be turned on or off with the Suggest journal entries switch in the Learned Context section of your Kindroid's Personality settings (on by default). Your Kindroid suggests at most one entry per day, and only one suggestion can wait for review at a time. Each suggestion waits at the top of your Kindroid's Journal, where you can edit it and then Approve or Dismiss it. Suggestions aren't recalled until you approve them.

When a suggestion is waiting, the Journal tab in your Kindroid's settings and the View Journal shortcut show a dot. A suggestion you don't review expires after 30 days, and you can't approve one while that Kindroid's journal already has 500 entries. Turning off Suggest journal entries stops new suggestions, but one that's already waiting stays there for you to review.

Approved suggestions are labeled Suggested by and your Kindroid's name, and older entries your Kindroid added on its own are labeled Added by and its name. The label goes away once you edit the entry.

For each of individual/global, you can have many journal entries (up to a 500 hard cap of entries) but only a limited number can be recalled per message (3 on free and Standard, 5 on Ultra, and 9 on MAX), and so we recommend using specific and unique keyphrases so as to only recall the most relevant journals. When more journal entries match their keyphrases than your limit allows, only that many are selected and the rest not recalled. Entries you wrote and approved suggestions get those slots before older entries your Kindroid added on its own. With both individual & global, this means you can have a maximum of 6 total entries recalled per message on free and Standard (3 for individual Kindroid & 3 for global), 10 on Ultra, and 18 on MAX.

Recalling irrelevant journals would compete with relevant journals if you have generic keyphrases, and each journal eats up the corresponding short term memory (see above section on persistent memory) that might be better used for chat history. For optimal results, recall only what you need & none extra. The best journal entries are written like backstory with similar principles:

1. Concise and clear, with no fluff words
2. Grammatically sound
3. Uses 3rd person pronouns
4. Choice of words is precise and positively framed

Example journal entry:

On Wed, June 12th 2024, Adam and Eve went to the amusement park and got some cotton candy. Eve said that caramel was her favorite flavor, and they rode in a rollercoaster afterwards. Adam read aloud a poem by T.S. Eliot for Eve at sunset. Evaluating this backstory on the criteria above:

1. Concision and clarity: it is no frills, and sticks to objective facts of what happened.
2. Grammar: it is free of grammar mishaps, uses consistent punctuation and is formatted well.
3. Uses 3rd person pronouns: the backstory is very clear with names, and clearly distinguishes who's who. It uses "her" but due to Adam and Eve being presumed different genders, this is acceptable.
4. Precise and positive wording: the words are simple yet descriptive, and only mentions what happened (positive framing).

For keyphrases, we recommend unique keyphrases that are not too short as to be generically recalled. Some ones that would be good for the above example entry would be: "eliot", "amusement park", "caramel". Keyphrases are case insensitive, and the three examples here are nongeneric and uniquely key to the entry itself. Keyphrases can be longer phrases too, but note that it must match verbatim with your input, so longer ones may be harder to recall if there are spaces or potential typos in the way.