Give agent memory a lifecycle — promote, demote, and retire — not just an append log

Digital Applied·medium signal

The 2026 memory research consensus is that lifecycle management is the dimension most frameworks address least: stores that only append grow into unsearchable haystacks that degrade retrieval. Build in explicit demotion and retirement (TTLs, usage-decay scoring, periodic re-summarization) alongside promotion of high-value facts. This is the difference between a memory system that compounds over months and one that silently poisons context with stale entries.