Skip to main content

Read path and routing

The read flow decides which memory an agent sees for a given task.

Read flow​

  1. Engram loads workspace and optional global indexes.
  2. Workspace entries win over global duplicates.
  3. Ignore rules and role filters hide irrelevant entries.
  4. Graph-aware routing selects a compact context pack.
  5. Hash and safety checks run before content is printed.

Anchor and refine​

load first anchors routing on meaningful query terms, ignoring generic memory words such as rule, knowledge, and common stopwords. It then refines the wider candidate pool into a compact context pack.

Normal load reports selected and total related counts, like loaded 8 memory files / 14 total related memories.

  • load --dry-run shows candidate counts, narrowing tags, and match reasons.
  • load --all returns every visible routed match instead of applying the compact limit.
  • load --for-agents is the agent-facing compact route.

workflow and workflows still route to skill memories, but generic type words do not make a broad match by themselves.

Dependency layers​

Use depends_on frontmatter when a memory should build on another memory instead of repeating it:

depends_on: [release-foundation]
level: advanced

Run engram graph --rebuild after manual edits. The graph reports dependency layers, and engram load pulls routed prerequisites into the same compact context pack before deeper memories. Graph related edges and vector hits cannot load unrelated memories by themselves; they only help rerank or expand memories that already overlap meaningful query terms. Explicit depends_on prerequisites may still load without their own keyword overlap.

Routing diagram​

Next steps​