Cognitive Memory for AI Agents: Beyond RAG
· 7 min read
RAG retrieves documents. It doesn't remember.
A RAG system stores chunks in a vector database and fetches the most similar ones at query time. That's search, not memory. Human memory is fundamentally different: it decays, drifts emotionally, gets suppressed by competing memories, and consolidates during sleep. None of that happens in a vector DB.
AgentOS implements 8 cognitive mechanisms from published cognitive science research to give agents something closer to actual memory. This post explains each mechanism, why it matters, and how to use it.