Conversation Memory vs. Knowledge Base
Conversation memory stores turn history or user preferences; a knowledge base stores source documents. A model-generated summary is not authoritative policy. Use conversation context to resolve references, but retrieve current approved policies and live transactional facts from their systems of record.
Keep memory scoped, minimize retention, preserve provenance, and define deletion behavior for both conversation records and indexed copies.
Implementation example
Conversation store: topic, constraints, turn history
Knowledge index: approved documents and citations
System of record: live account / order / transaction state💡 Different fact types require different authoritative sources.
Key Takeaways
- Inspect the relevant pipeline stage instead of guessing.
- Preserve source provenance, versions, and access scope.
- Measure quality on representative queries.
Knowledge Check
Where should a current company policy answer come from?