Memory prompts: expire and delete every usable copy

Last updated: 2 Oct 202611 min read

tutorial

A forget request is a data operation with a verifiable result. The prompt should identify the item or scope, then let the trusted memory service delete it under the caller's authority. A complete operational contract accounts for active records, indexes, cached context packets, derived summaries, and any retention exceptions the product actually has. Turning memory use off is not necessarily deletion; neither is removing a visible label while a summarized copy remains available. Expiry rules should match the item's purpose and be checked at recall, not just during occasional cleanup. The assistant must distinguish 'deletion requested,' 'deletion confirmed,' and 'retained under a stated constraint.'

Operational case

U-47 tells Parcel Desk to forget the old email-notice preference. The assistant targets item M-51, not every record about shipments, and the service returns deletion receipt D-51. A test query under U-47's verified identity must no longer retrieve the item. The team also checks a weekly summary cache that had copied the preference and invalidates it. A separately stored audit receipt may remain under the product's stated retention rules, but it must not be repurposed as an active preference. If a cache job is delayed, the assistant reports that deletion is still in progress instead of declaring completion.

Forget target: preference M-51, not the entire shipment history.
Delete receipt: D-51 from trusted memory service.
Check: primary store, retrieval index, derived weekly summary, context cache.
Recall test: M-51 absent for U-47.
Pending cache invalidation -> deletion not yet confirmed end to end.

Performance and operating cost

Deleting one keyed record is O(1) average in a suitable store, but locating D derived copies can require O(D) checks across indexes and caches. An asynchronous cleanup window adds operational latency and a state that the assistant must describe honestly. Periodic expiry sweeps can reduce stale records, while a recall-time expiry check prevents a missed sweep from serving an old fact. A delete test should confirm absence without exposing another user's memory or logging the deleted text again.

Common Mistakes

Do not call a disabled memory feature a completed deletion.
Do not forget the cached summary that copied an item.
Do not announce completion while a required deletion step is pending.

Connected lessons

prompt engineering

memory lifecycle