---
title: "What is agent memory?"
description: "Agent memory is durable, queryable state an agent reads and writes across turns: messages, retrieved facts, and tool results, not a hidden JSON file."
url: "https://pixeltable.com/learn/what-is-agent-memory"
updated: "2026-09-29"
vertical: "Agents"
doc: "https://docs.pixeltable.com/overview/quick-start"
---

# What is agent memory?

Agent memory is durable, queryable state an agent reads and writes across turns: messages, retrieved facts, and tool results, not a hidden JSON file.

Updated: 2026-09-29


## On this page

- [How it works](https://pixeltable.com/learn/what-is-agent-memory#how-it-works)
- [What it is not](https://pixeltable.com/learn/what-is-agent-memory#what-it-is-not)
- [Comparison](https://pixeltable.com/learn/what-is-agent-memory#comparison)
- [Where Pixeltable fits](https://pixeltable.com/learn/what-is-agent-memory#where-pixeltable-fits)
- [Questions](https://pixeltable.com/learn/what-is-agent-memory#questions)

## How it works {#how-it-works}


- Turns and artifacts are rows.
- The next call reads the rows it needs.
- You can query what the agent saw last week.

## What it is not {#what-it-is-not}

It is not the model’s context window, and it is not a cache with no schema.

## agent memory: this, and the thing it is confused with {#comparison}

|  | This | Not this |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Lifetime | Across processes | Until the prompt ends |
| Shape | Tables you can query | A blob of messages |
| Media | Can sit on the same rows | Text only, usually |

## Where Pixeltable fits {#where-pixeltable-fits}

Pixeltable stores that memory as tables the agent reads with a query and writes with an insert.

## Questions {#questions}

### How does agent memory work? {#faq-1}

Turns and artifacts are rows. The next call reads the rows it needs. You can query what the agent saw last week.

### What is agent memory often confused with? {#faq-2}

It is not the model’s context window, and it is not a cache with no schema.

## In the blog

- [The @pxt.query Decorator: Building Reusable Database Queries for AI Agents and RAG Systems](https://pixeltable.com/blog/reusable-query-patterns-pxt-query)
- [Where Does the Agent Live?](https://pixeltable.com/blog/where-does-the-agent-live)
- [Why Pixeltable is the Ultimate Agent Harness](https://pixeltable.com/blog/pixeltable-agent-harness)
- [Building Memory-Powered AI: Creating Stateful Agents with Pixeltable](https://pixeltable.com/blog/building-memory-powered-ai-stateful-agents-pixeltable)
- [Run Pixeltable in Docker Without Losing Your Catalog](https://pixeltable.com/blog/pixeltable-docker-volumes-pixeltable-home)
- [The Invisible 80%: Why Your AI Agent Demo Won't Survive Production](https://pixeltable.com/blog/invisible-infrastructure-production-ai-agents)

## Related

- [Documentation](https://docs.pixeltable.com/overview/quick-start)
- [Building Memory-Powered AI: Creating Stateful Agents with Pixeltable](https://pixeltable.com/blog/building-memory-powered-ai-stateful-agents-pixeltable)
- [The Invisible 80%: Why Your AI Agent Demo Won't Survive Production](https://pixeltable.com/blog/invisible-infrastructure-production-ai-agents)
- [AI agents and MCP](https://pixeltable.com/use-cases/ai-agents-mcp)
- [Pixeltable vs LangChain](https://pixeltable.com/compare/pixeltable-vs-langchain)