We Don't Do Vector Dumps: The Attixa Philosophy
At Attixa, we believe that effective AI memory requires more than just storing vectors. This article explores our philosophy of structured, salient memory systems and why this approach is crucial for building truly intelligent AI.
Our Core Principles
1. Structured Memory
# Example of structured memory organization
memory_structure = {
"hierarchy": {
"concepts": {
"parent": "AI Memory",
"children": ["types", "mechanisms", "applications"]
},
"relationships": {
"types": ["short_term", "long_term"],
"mechanisms": ["storage", "retrieval"],
"applications": ["learning", "reasoning"]
}
},
"context": {
"temporal": ["past", "present", "future"],
"spatial": ["local", "global"],
"conceptual": ["abstract", "concrete"]
}
}
2. Salience-Based Retrieval
# Salience scoring example
async def score_salience(content, context):
return {
"relevance": calculate_relevance(content, context),
"importance": assess_importance(content),
"recency": evaluate_recency(content),
"usage": track_usage_patterns(content)
}
# Memory retrieval with salience
async def retrieve_memory(query, context):
memories = await memory_system.search(query)
scored = await score_salience(memories, context)
return rank_by_salience(scored)
3. Dynamic Adaptation
# Dynamic adaptation example
async def adapt_memory(content, feedback):
# Update importance based on usage
await update_importance(content, feedback)
# Adjust relationships based on patterns
await adjust_relationships(content)
# Optimize storage based on access patterns
await optimize_storage(content)
Why We're Different
1. Beyond Vector Storage
# Traditional vector storage
vector_store = {
"embeddings": [...],
"metadata": {...},
"index": {...}
}
# Attixa's structured approach
attixa_memory = {
"structure": {
"hierarchy": {...},
"relationships": {...},
"context": {...}
},
"salience": {
"scores": {...},
"patterns": {...},
"adaptation": {...}
},
"dynamics": {
"learning": {...},
"optimization": {...},
"healing": {...}
}
}
2. Contextual Understanding
# Context preservation example
async def preserve_context(content):
# Store with rich context
await memory.store(
content=content,
context={
"source": "reliable_source",
"timestamp": datetime.now(),
"importance": 0.8,
"relationships": await find_relationships(content)
}
)
# Update salience
await update_salience(content)
# Maintain structure
await maintain_structure(content)
3. Intelligent Retrieval
# Intelligent retrieval example
async def retrieve_intelligently(query, context):
# Get relevant memories
memories = await memory.search(query)
# Score by salience
scored = await score_salience(memories, context)
# Filter by relevance
relevant = await filter_relevant(scored, context)
# Rank by importance
ranked = await rank_by_importance(relevant)
return ranked
Implementation Philosophy
1. Memory Management
# Memory management example
class MemoryManager:
async def store(self, content, context):
# Structure content
structured = await self.structure_content(content)
# Preserve context
await self.preserve_context(structured, context)
# Update salience
await self.update_salience(structured)
async def retrieve(self, query, context):
# Search intelligently
results = await self.search_intelligently(query, context)
# Score by salience
scored = await self.score_salience(results, context)
# Return ranked results
return await self.rank_results(scored)
2. System Architecture
# System architecture example
class AttixaSystem:
def __init__(self):
self.memory = MemorySystem()
self.salience = SalienceEngine()
self.adaptation = AdaptationEngine()
async def process(self, content):
# Structure memory
structured = await self.memory.structure(content)
# Score salience
scored = await self.salience.score(structured)
# Adapt system
await self.adaptation.adapt(scored)
3. Quality Assurance
# Quality assurance example
class QualityManager:
async def verify_memory(self, content):
# Check structure
structure_ok = await self.verify_structure(content)
# Check salience
salience_ok = await self.verify_salience(content)
# Check adaptation
adaptation_ok = await self.verify_adaptation(content)
return all([structure_ok, salience_ok, adaptation_ok])
Real-World Applications
1. Knowledge Management
# Knowledge management example
class KnowledgeManager:
async def store_knowledge(self, content):
# Structure knowledge
structured = await self.structure_knowledge(content)
# Preserve context
await self.preserve_context(structured)
# Update salience
await self.update_salience(structured)
2. Learning Systems
# Learning system example
class LearningSystem:
async def learn(self, experience):
# Structure experience
structured = await self.structure_experience(experience)
# Update knowledge
await self.update_knowledge(structured)
# Adapt system
await self.adapt_system(structured)
3. Decision Support
# Decision support example
class DecisionSupport:
async def support_decision(self, context):
# Retrieve relevant knowledge
knowledge = await self.retrieve_relevant(context)
# Score by salience
scored = await self.score_salience(knowledge)
# Generate recommendations
return await self.generate_recommendations(scored)
Next Steps
Interested in our philosophy? Check out our documentation or join our community.

Allan Livingston
Founder of Attixa
Allan is the founder of Attixa and a longtime builder of AI infrastructure and dev tools. He's always dreamed of a better database ever since an intern borrowed his favorite DB systems textbook, read it in the bathroom, and left it on the floor. His obsession with merging database paradigms goes way back to an ill-advised project to unify ODBC and hierarchical text retrieval. That one ended in stack traces and heartbreak. These scars now fuel his mission to build blazing-fast, salience-aware memory for agents.