Managing State Across Interactions › Design Principles for State Management
Michael BrenndoerferJuly 11, 20251 min read
AI Agent HandbookAll chapters Part 7 of 15Agent State and Architecture - Putting It All Together
Managing State Across Interactions › Design Principles for State ManagementOne section · Sections in this chapter10 / 13 ↓
Sections in this chapter13
As you build your agent, keep these principles in mind:
Principle 1: Default to forgetting. Only persist what you have a clear reason to remember. This keeps your agent fast and your storage costs low.
Principle 2: Make state boundaries explicit. Don't let state leak between tiers. Ephemeral state should never accidentally become persistent.
Principle 3: Give users control. Let users see what you remember and delete it if they want. This builds trust and complies with privacy regulations.
Principle 4: Optimize for the common case. Most interactions are simple and don't need complex state. Don't overcomplicate things for edge cases.
Principle 5: Log state transitions. When state changes, log it. This makes debugging infinitely easier.