Writing Your First Memory Note

Module 2, Skills & Memory | Essay 3 of 8

A memory note isn't a paragraph about yourself. It's a specific, factual statement your agent can apply across many different conversations.

The difference matters. "I work in marketing" is a memory note. "I work in content marketing at a B2B SaaS company. My audience is usually technical buyers who distrust hype, so I write direct, evidence-based copy with no fluff" is a much better one. Same topic, completely different usefulness.

Good memory notes have three qualities. They're specific, concrete details, not general categories. They're durable, true across many conversations, not just today. And they're actionable, the agent can actually change its behavior based on what the note says.

Here are examples of each kind worth writing early on.

Role and context: "I'm a customer success manager at a 200-person software company. I manage 40 enterprise accounts. My biggest challenges are renewals and getting customers to adopt new features." Specific, durable, immediately useful.

Communication style: "I write informally. Short sentences. No corporate language. I'd rather sound like a person than a press release. When drafting for me, match that." The agent now knows how to sound like you.

Recurring context: "I have a quarterly business review with my top 10 accounts every three months. The next one is in June. These are high-stakes conversations where I need to show impact clearly." Time-bounded but specific enough to shape many conversations.

Standing instructions: "Always give me options when there's more than one good approach. Don't just pick one without telling me there were alternatives." This changes how the agent responds to almost everything.

The mistake to avoid: writing memory notes so broad they don't change anything. "I like clear communication" tells the agent nothing it didn't already know. "I need all outputs under 200 words unless I ask for more" tells it something specific it can act on.

Write notes the way you'd brief a new colleague who's sharp but knows nothing about your world. What would they need to know to do good work for you from day one?