How to Add Persistent Memory to CrewAI Agents

#ai #agents #tutorial #python

What is Aegis Memory?

Aegis Memory is an open-source memory layer built specifically for multi-agent AI systems. It solves the "amnesia problem" where AI agents forget everything between sessions.

Unlike built-in framework memory (which is session-only), Aegis provides:

Persistent storage that survives restarts
Semantic search across all memories
Scoped access control (private, shared, global)
Self-improvement patterns (ACE) for agents that learn over time

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to integrate Aegis Memory with CrewAI in under 10 minutes.

The Problem

You build a CrewAI agent. It works great. Then you restart it.

# Run 1
agent.chat("My name is Alex, I'm a Python developer")
# Agent: "Nice to meet you, Alex!"

# Run 2 (new session)
agent.chat("What's my name?")
# Agent: "I don't know your name."

Everything your agent learned? Gone.

This isn't a bug, it's how LLMs work. Context windows reset. Sessions end. Memory disappears.

But multi-agent systems need persistent memory. Agents that remember users. Teams that share knowledge. Systems that learn from mistakes.

The Solution: Aegis Memory

Aegis Memory is an open-source memory layer for multi-agent systems. It gives your CrewAI agents:

Persistent memory that survives restarts
Semantic search (query by meaning, not keywords)
Scoped access (private, shared, or global memories)
Self-improvement through ACE patterns

Let's add it to a CrewAI project.

Step 1: Install

pip install aegis-memory crewai

Start the Aegis server (requires Docker):

git clone https://github.com/quantifylabs/aegis-memory.git
cd aegis-memory
docker-compose up -d

Step 2: Basic Integration

from aegis_memory import AegisClient
from crewai import Agent, Task, Crew

# Connect to Aegis
memory = AegisClient(
    base_url="http://localhost:8741",
    api_key="your-api-key"
)

# Store a memory
memory.add(
    content="User prefers concise responses and dark mode",
    agent_id="assistant",
    user_id="user_123",
    scope="agent-private"
)

# Query memories semantically
results = memory.query(
    query="What are the user's preferences?",
    agent_id="assistant",
    user_id="user_123",
    top_k=5
)

for r in results:
    print(r["content"])
# Output: "User prefers concise responses and dark mode"

Step 3: CrewAI Integration

Here's a research crew with persistent memory:

from aegis_memory.integrations.crewai import AegisCrewMemory
from crewai import Agent, Task, Crew

# Initialize Aegis memory for CrewAI
memory = AegisCrewMemory(
    base_url="http://localhost:8741",
    api_key="your-api-key"
)

# Create agents with shared memory
researcher = Agent(
    role="Research Analyst",
    goal="Find accurate information on given topics",
    backstory="Expert at gathering and analyzing data",
    memory=memory,
    verbose=True
)

writer = Agent(
    role="Content Writer", 
    goal="Write clear, engaging content",
    backstory="Skilled at transforming research into readable content",
    memory=memory,  # Same memory instance = shared knowledge
    verbose=True
)

# Define tasks
research_task = Task(
    description="Research the latest trends in AI agents",
    agent=researcher,
    expected_output="Summary of key trends"
)

writing_task = Task(
    description="Write a blog post based on the research",
    agent=writer,
    expected_output="Draft blog post"
)

# Create and run the crew
crew = Crew(
    agents=[researcher, writer],
    tasks=[research_task, writing_task],
    memory=memory
)

result = crew.kickoff()

What happens:

Researcher finds information → stored in shared memory
Writer queries memory → gets researcher's findings
Next run → both agents remember what they learned

How Memory Scopes Work

Aegis provides three scopes:

# Private: only the researcher can see this
memory.add(
    content="Internal analysis notes",
    agent_id="researcher",
    scope="agent-private"
)

# Shared: researcher and writer can see this
memory.add(
    content="Key finding: AI agent market growing 40% YoY",
    agent_id="researcher",
    scope="agent-shared",
    shared_with_agents=["writer"]
)

# Global: all agents can see this
memory.add(
    content="Company policy: always cite sources",
    agent_id="admin",
    scope="global"
)