Cortex System Observer

The cortex is the agent’s inner monologue. The only process that sees across all channels, workers, and branches simultaneously. Its primary job: generate the memory bulletin — a periodically refreshed, LLM-curated summary of the agent’s knowledge injected into every conversation.

What the Cortex Does

Generate memory bulletin

Runs on a configurable interval (default 60 min). Uses memory_recall to query across multiple dimensions (identity, events, decisions, preferences), synthesizes into a ~500 word briefing.

Supervise running processes

Monitors channels, branches, and workers. Detects hanging workers, cleans up stale branches.

Maintain memory graph

Runs periodic maintenance: decay, pruning, merging near-duplicates, cross-channel consolidation.

Detect patterns

Observes system-wide activity. Creates observations from repeated behaviors, usage patterns.

Admin chat interface

Provides a direct interactive chat with full tool access for system inspection and manual intervention.

Memory Bulletin Generation

The bulletin is cached in RuntimeConfig::memory_bulletin and read by every channel via ArcSwap:

// From src/agent/cortex.rs
let bulletin = runtime_config.memory_bulletin.load();

No database queries on the hot path. Channels get ambient awareness without blocking.

Bulletin Prompt

You are the cortex. Generate a brief memory bulletin.

Recall memories across these dimensions:
- Identity (who the user is, who the agent is)
- Recent events (what happened recently)
- Active goals (what the user wants to achieve)
- Important decisions (choices that were made)
- Key preferences (what the user likes/dislikes)

Synthesize into a 500-word briefing.

Focus on:
- High-importance memories
- Recent activity
- Ongoing goals
- Core identity facts

Exclude:
- Low-importance observations
- Stale events
- Forgotten memories

The cortex uses memory_recall to query each dimension:

{
  "name": "memory_recall",
  "input": {
    "query": "",
    "memory_types": ["identity"],
    "mode": "important",
    "limit": 10
  }
}

Then synthesizes:

# Memory Bulletin
Generated: 2024-03-15 14:30:00 UTC

## Identity
The user is a software engineer based in San Francisco. Works primarily with Rust and TypeScript. Prefers functional programming patterns.

## Recent Activity
- Completed refactor of authentication module (2024-03-14)
- Researching best practices for distributed systems (ongoing)

## Active Goals
- Launch new API v2 by end of month
- Learn more about consensus algorithms

## Preferences
- Prefers tabs over spaces
- Uses Neovim as primary editor
- Likes detailed technical explanations

Bulletin Refresh Interval

[defaults.warmup]
enabled = true
refresh_secs = 3600  # 1 hour

The warmup system handles bulletin refresh:

// From src/agent/cortex.rs
fn should_generate_bulletin_from_bulletin_loop(
    warmup_config: WarmupConfig,
    status: &WarmupStatus,
) -> bool {
    let age_secs = bulletin_age_secs(status.last_refresh_unix_ms)
        .or(status.bulletin_age_secs);
    
    let Some(age_secs) = age_secs else {
        return true;  // No recorded refresh yet
    };
    
    age_secs >= warmup_config.refresh_secs.max(1)
}

Warmup System

The warmup system ensures agents are ready for work before serving requests:

// From src/config.rs
pub struct WarmupStatus {
    pub state: WarmupState,
    pub last_refresh_unix_ms: Option<i64>,
    pub bulletin_age_secs: Option<u64>,
    pub last_error: Option<String>,
}

pub enum WarmupState {
    Cold,      // Not yet warmed up
    Warming,   // Warmup in progress
    Warm,      // Ready for work
    Degraded,  // Warmup failed but agent still works
}

Warmup Workflow

Agent starts

State: Cold

Warmup begins

State: Warming

Generate memory bulletin
Preload embeddings
Warm up database connections

Warmup completes

State: WarmChannels/workers/cron jobs check ready_for_work():

fn ready_for_work(&self) -> bool {
    matches!(self.state, WarmupState::Warm)
        && self.last_refresh_unix_ms.is_some()
}

Periodic refresh

Every refresh_secs, regenerate bulletin. State stays Warm.

Cold Dispatch Metrics

If a channel/worker/cron job starts before warmup completes, it’s recorded:

if !warmup_status.ready_for_work() {
    tracing::warn!(
        agent_id = %agent_id,
        process_type = ?process_type,
        "dispatched before warmup complete (cold start)"
    );
    
    metrics.cold_dispatch_total
        .with_label_values(&[&agent_id, process_type_label])
        .inc();
}

Cold dispatches work fine — they just don’t have the memory bulletin yet.

Process Supervision

The cortex observes all ProcessEvents:

// From src/hooks.rs
pub enum ProcessEvent {
    BranchStarted { branch_id, channel_id, description, started_at },
    BranchComplete { branch_id, channel_id, result },
    WorkerStarted { worker_id, channel_id, task, started_at },
    WorkerStatus { worker_id, channel_id, status },
    WorkerComplete { worker_id, channel_id, result, notify },
    WorkerTimeout { worker_id, channel_id },
    // ...
}

Detecting Stuck Workers

if worker_running_time > timeout_threshold {
    tracing::warn!(
        worker_id = %worker_id,
        running_time_secs = worker_running_time.as_secs(),
        "worker appears stuck, sending timeout signal"
    );
    
    cancel_worker(worker_id).await?;
}

Cleaning Up Stale Branches

if branch_running_time > max_branch_lifetime {
    tracing::warn!(
        branch_id = %branch_id,
        "branch exceeded max lifetime, cancelling"
    );
    
    cancel_branch(branch_id).await?;
}

Memory Maintenance

The cortex runs periodic memory maintenance:

Decay

Reduce importance of old, unaccessed memories:

// From src/memory/maintenance.rs
let cutoff = Utc::now() - Duration::days(30);
let old_memories = store.get_unaccessed_since(cutoff).await?;

for memory in old_memories {
    if memory.memory_type != MemoryType::Identity {
        memory.importance *= 0.95;  // 5% decay
        store.update(&memory).await?;
    }
}

Identity memories are exempt.

Prune

Remove memories below importance threshold:

let threshold = 0.1;
let forgotten = store.get_by_importance_below(threshold).await?;

for memory in forgotten {
    store.forget(&memory.id).await?;  // Soft delete
}

Merge

Detect near-duplicate memories and consolidate:

let duplicates = store.find_duplicates(0.95).await?;

for (id1, id2) in duplicates {
    let merged = merge_memories(id1, id2);
    store.save(&merged).await?;
    store.forget(id1).await?;
    store.forget(id2).await?;
}

Cross-Channel Consolidation

If the same fact appears in multiple channels, consolidate:

let similar_across_channels = store
    .find_similar_across_channels(0.9)
    .await?;

for cluster in similar_across_channels {
    let canonical = pick_highest_importance(cluster);
    for duplicate in cluster {
        if duplicate.id != canonical.id {
            create_association(
                duplicate.id,
                canonical.id,
                RelationType::Updates
            );
            store.forget(&duplicate.id).await?;
        }
    }
}

Pattern Detection

The cortex creates observations from repeated behaviors:

if user_asked_about_rust_5_times_this_week {
    memory_save(
        "User is actively learning Rust",
        MemoryType::Observation,
        0.6
    );
}

if user_mentions_timezone_in_multiple_channels {
    memory_save(
        "User is based in America/New_York timezone",
        MemoryType::Identity,
        0.9
    );
}

Observations become first-class memories.

Cortex Chat Interface

The cortex provides a direct admin chat for system inspection:

curl -X POST http://localhost:5738/api/cortex/chat \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "agent_id": "my-agent",
    "message": "show me recent memory activity"
  }'

The cortex has full tool access:

memory_recall — Query memories
memory_save — Create memories
system_inspect — View running processes
channel_list — List all channels
worker_inspect — Inspect worker state

Useful for:

Debugging memory issues
Manually creating/updating memories
Inspecting stuck workers
Understanding agent state

Cortex Hook

The cortex uses a specialized hook for system observation:

// From src/hooks/cortex.rs
pub struct CortexHook {
    pub agent_id: AgentId,
    pub event_tx: broadcast::Sender<ProcessEvent>,
}

impl PromptHook for CortexHook {
    fn on_completion_response(&self, response: &CompletionResponse) -> HookAction {
        // Observe LLM responses, detect patterns
        HookAction::Continue
    }
    
    fn on_tool_result(&self, tool_name: &str, result: &str) -> HookAction {
        // Observe tool usage patterns
        HookAction::Continue
    }
}

Bulletin Injection

Channels read the bulletin on every turn:

// From src/agent/channel.rs
let bulletin = deps.runtime_config.memory_bulletin.load();

let system_prompt = format!(
    "{base_prompt}\n\n# Memory Bulletin\n{bulletin}"
);

Branches inherit the bulletin from their channel’s context (it’s part of system prompt). Workers do not get the bulletin (they have no channel context).

Configuration

[defaults.warmup]
enabled = true
refresh_secs = 3600  # 1 hour

[defaults.cortex]
maintenance_interval_hours = 24
decay_factor = 0.95
prune_threshold = 0.1
merge_similarity_threshold = 0.95

Best Practices

How often to refresh the bulletin

Frequent refresh (30-60 min):

High-activity agents with rapid memory creation
Many users creating memories
You want channels to see new memories quickly

Infrequent refresh (2-4 hours):

Low-activity agents
Single-user environments
You want to minimize LLM calls

When to run memory maintenance

Daily maintenance:

Most agents
Balanced decay and pruning

Weekly maintenance:

Low-memory-creation agents
You want memories to persist longer

Hourly maintenance:

High-churn environments
Testing/development

How to tune decay and pruning

Aggressive (forget faster):

decay_factor = 0.90  # 10% decay
prune_threshold = 0.2

Conservative (remember longer):

decay_factor = 0.98  # 2% decay
prune_threshold = 0.05

Next Steps

Memory System

Learn how memories are stored and searched

Channels

See how channels use the memory bulletin

Compaction

Understand how compaction extracts memories

Configuration

Full cortex configuration reference

Getting Started

Core Concepts

Features

Configuration

Messaging

Deployment

Cortex System Observer

What the Cortex Does

Memory Bulletin Generation

Bulletin Prompt

Bulletin Refresh Interval

Warmup System

Warmup Workflow

Cold Dispatch Metrics

Process Supervision

Detecting Stuck Workers

Cleaning Up Stale Branches

Memory Maintenance

Decay

Prune

Merge

Cross-Channel Consolidation

Pattern Detection

Cortex Chat Interface

Cortex Hook

Bulletin Injection

Configuration

Best Practices

Next Steps

Memory System

Channels

Compaction

Configuration

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Getting Started

Core Concepts

Features

Configuration

Messaging

Deployment

​What the Cortex Does

​Memory Bulletin Generation

​Bulletin Prompt

​Bulletin Refresh Interval

​Warmup System

​Warmup Workflow

​Cold Dispatch Metrics

​Process Supervision

​Detecting Stuck Workers

​Cleaning Up Stale Branches

​Memory Maintenance

​Decay

​Prune

​Merge

​Cross-Channel Consolidation

​Pattern Detection

​Cortex Chat Interface

​Cortex Hook

​Bulletin Injection

​Configuration

​Best Practices

​Next Steps

Memory System

Channels

Compaction

Configuration

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

What the Cortex Does

Memory Bulletin Generation

Bulletin Prompt

Bulletin Refresh Interval

Warmup System

Warmup Workflow

Cold Dispatch Metrics

Process Supervision

Detecting Stuck Workers

Cleaning Up Stale Branches

Memory Maintenance

Decay

Prune

Merge

Cross-Channel Consolidation

Pattern Detection

Cortex Chat Interface

Cortex Hook

Bulletin Injection

Configuration

Best Practices

Next Steps