Associative memory layer
The OpenSearch-backed retrieval layer that stores searchable metadata, vectors, semantic abstractions, memory links, and retrieval feedback. The primary interface for active recall during the cognitive loop.
The associative memory layer is the live, searchable face of the memory substrate - the part that the cognitive loop queries in real time during every retrieval step. It holds multiple distinct indexes in OpenSearch: experience events with their embeddings and metadata, semantic memories produced by consolidation, memory links that express graph relationships between memories, policy state history, agent activity traces, world-model predictions, goals, and identity state. Full-fidelity payloads are not stored here - they live in the episodic truth layer in object storage, with the associative memory layer holding a pointer (object_storage_key) for each. This split keeps the search index lean and fast while preserving complete records for audit and replay. The memory gateway is the component that queries this layer during the cognitive loop; it combines BM25 keyword search with k-NN vector search and optional cross-encoder reranking to produce a ranked retrieval result from all the available indexes simultaneously.