Memory Modes

Docket works in two modes. You can switch at any time via config.

Flat mode (default)

Simple memory records with embeddings. Just like any RAG system.

• No sector classification
• No decay
• No temporal queries
• RBAC is off by default

Best for: quick experiments, small deployments, when you don't need cognitive memory.

Rich mode

Full cognitive memory with sectors, decay, temporal graph, and access control.

Sectors

Memories are classified into one of five sectors on ingestion:

Sector	Description	Example
Episodic	Events and experiences	"I rode my bike to the lake"
Semantic	Facts and knowledge	"Rust uses ownership instead of GC"
Procedural	Skills and how-to	"How to bake sourdough bread"
Emotional	Feelings and reactions	"I felt anxious before the talk"
Reflective	Insights and realizations	"I realized I work best in mornings"

Classification is performed by the LLM. You can override per-ingest or disable entirely in config.

Decay

Per-sector forgetting curves:

memory:
  decay:
    functions:
      episodic: { type: "exponential", halfLifeDays: 30 }
      emotional: { type: "exponential", halfLifeDays: 7 }
      semantic: { type: "none" }

• Exponential — salience * 0.5^(elapsed / halfLife)
• Linear — salience * (1 - elapsed / halfLife)
• None — never decays

Memories drop below forgottenThreshold (default 0.05) are excluded from search but retained in storage.

Temporal graph

Memories can have validity windows:

{
  "validFrom": "2026-01-01",
  "validTo": "2026-03-01",
  "supersedesId": "mem_older_version"
}

Use temporal queries to ask "what was true on X date?"

RBAC

Every memory has an access policy and ownership:

{
  "accessPolicy": "owner-only",
  "owner": "user:alice",
  "readers": ["user:bob", "group:family"],
  "writers": ["user:alice"]
}

Built-in policies:

Policy	Read	Write	Delete
owner-only	owner only	owner only	owner only
public	anyone	owner/writers only	owner only
any other value	owner + readers	owner + writers	owner only

Or reference a named policy defined in config:

memory:
  rbac:
    policies:
      team:
        readers: ["user:alice", "user:bob"]
        writers: ["user:alice"]

{
  "accessPolicy": "team"
}

Switching modes

Edit config/config.yaml:

memory:
  mode: "rich"

Then restart Docket. Existing flat memories remain accessible; new ingestions use rich semantics.