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Living Memory: retention and identity matching
Version 1.0 · Last updated 2026-05-27
A customer who asked about pricing yesterday should not get the same first-time pitch today. A customer with a recurring issue should not have to re-explain it. Living Memory is what makes the agent feel like a continuous relationship instead of a stateless chatbot.
Key concepts
Identity matching
How the platform decides that two sessions belong to the same customer. Rules combine email, account ID, custom identifiers, and inferred identity from Living Context.
Retention windows
How long memory is kept. Different defaults for anonymous visitors (shorter) and identified customers (longer). Aligned to your sales cycle and GDPR data minimization.
Memory fields
What the agent remembers per customer: identity, conversation history, preferences, sentiment, goals, and the outcomes of past conversations. Each customer’s memory is private to that customer. Extensible with custom fields where needed.
Anonymous-to-identified linking
When an anonymous visitor identifies themselves (sign-up, login, form fill), the platform links their anonymous history to the identified profile.
Erasure
Customers can request memory erasure under GDPR. Erasure drops the customer’s history immediately; the next conversation starts fresh.
What you can do here
- Configure identity matching rules
- Set retention windows for anonymous and identified profiles
- Add custom memory fields
- Inspect what Living Memory holds for a specific customer
- Process data subject erasure requests
When to use it
- Default behavior is close but not quite right for your business
- Sales cycle is unusual (very short or very long)
- You need to remember something specific that defaults do not cover
- Privacy review wants tighter retention windows
How it works
Each Customer Agent conversation writes to Living Memory under the customer’s identity. Subsequent conversations read from Living Memory before generating answers. Memory passes through the Privacy Vault, so PII is tokenized.
Frequently asked questions
How do I match customers across email and account ID?
Open identity matching rules and order them. Email first, account ID second usually works. The first match wins.
How do I extend the retention window for identified customers?
Open retention settings and pick a longer window. Confirm with your DPO that the new window is compliant.
How do I add a custom memory field?
Open custom memory fields, add the field name, and set the type (string, number, boolean). The platform starts capturing the field on the next conversation.
A customer wants their memory erased. What do I do?
Open Trust > Privacy and submit a data subject erasure request. The platform drops the customer's Living Memory immediately.
How do I inspect what is stored for a customer?
Open Living Memory and search by identifier. The view shows everything the agent remembers for that profile.
Why is the agent treating a returning customer like a first-time visitor?
Identity matching probably did not match. Check the matching rules and the identifiers your platform has for that customer.
