From RAG to Agentic RAG to Agent Memory: A Simplified Mental Model
bibryam · x · 2026-09-05
Leonie Monigatti traces the evolution from vanilla RAG to agentic RAG to agent memory, offering a simplified mental model:
- RAG: one-shot, read-only retrieval from an indexed external knowledge base.
- Agentic RAG: the model gains control over which sources to retrieve from and when.
- Agent Memory: adds read/write state, letting information persistently flow in and out of the LLM's context window.
The core abstraction is how information moves through the context window, whether you call it memory or facts. The article includes pseudo code examples and a visual, noting real memory systems involve more complexity like memory management.
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