Agentic Design

Patterns
📝

Context Write Patterns(CWP)

Systematic externalization of context through scratchpads, note-taking, and file system integration for unlimited persistent context

Complexity: mediumContext Management

🎯 30-Second Overview

Pattern: Systematic externalization of context through scratchpads, note-taking, and file system integration for unlimited persistent context

Why: Overcomes context window limitations and enables persistent memory across sessions with structured knowledge accumulation

Key Insight: External memory through file operations enables unlimited context capacity and session continuity

⚡ Quick Implementation

1Scratchpad Setup:Initialize external memory file system operations
2Note Structure:Design hierarchical note-taking schemas
3Write Operations:Implement real-time context externalization
4Session Persistence:Enable cross-session context restoration
5Overflow Handling:Manage context window overflow gracefully
Example: init_scratchpad → structure_notes → write_context → persist_session → handle_overflow

📋 Do's & Don'ts

✅Use structured file formats (JSON, YAML) for context storage
✅Implement hierarchical organization for external memory
✅Write intermediate thoughts and reasoning steps
✅Enable cross-session context restoration
✅Use timestamps and metadata for context tracking
❌Store sensitive information in external files without encryption
❌Write unstructured text blobs without organization
❌Ignore file system permissions and access controls
❌Skip validation when reading external context
❌Allow unlimited file growth without cleanup policies

🚦 When to Use

Use When

  • • Persistent memory requirements across sessions
  • • Context window overflow situations
  • • Knowledge externalization needs
  • • Long-running agent tasks

Avoid When

  • • Stateless processing requirements
  • • High-security environments without file access
  • • Real-time performance critical paths
  • • Simple short-duration tasks

📊 Key Metrics

Storage Efficiency
Context compression ratio
Retrieval Speed
Time to load external context
Session Continuity
% successful context restoration
Context Integrity
% valid context after persistence
File Organization
Average depth of context hierarchy
Overflow Handling
% successful context window overflows

💡 Top Use Cases

Agent Scratchpad: init_workspace → write_thoughts → structure_reasoning → persist_state → resume_session
Knowledge Accumulation: capture_insights → organize_hierarchically → cross_reference → build_knowledge_base
Long-Form Reasoning: break_down_problem → externalize_steps → track_progress → synthesize_solution
Research Assistant: collect_sources → take_notes → organize_findings → generate_reports → maintain_context
Code Development: capture_requirements → design_notes → implementation_log → testing_results → documentation

References & Further Reading

Deepen your understanding with these curated resources

Academic Papers

External Memory Augmented Neural Networks (Graves et al., 2016)

Scratchpad Memory for Language Models (Nye et al., 2021)

Persistent Context in AI Systems (Zhang & Liu, 2023)

External Memory Patterns for LLMs (Chen et al., 2024)

Implementation Guides

File System Operations in Python

Node.js File System API

JSON Schema for Structured Data

SQLite for Local Data Storage

Tools & Libraries

Obsidian - Knowledge Management System

Notion API - Workspace Integration

MemGPT - Persistent Memory for LLMs

Langchain Memory - Conversation Memory

Community & Discussions

Personal Knowledge Management Community

Obsidian Community Forum

Memory-Augmented AI Research

External Memory Systems

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