# Hermes Agent memory vs context files vs project notes

> Choose where a fact belongs so a future session can recover it without carrying your entire project in every prompt.

Canonical: https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/memory-context-and-project-records  
Section: Learn · Memory & context  
Last reviewed: Oct 19, 2026  
Basis: Explained from the official Hermes Agent docs and repository (Nous Research). Steps follow the linked official sources.

## Three places to keep knowledge

Hermes has persistent memory for compact facts and preferences, project context files for instructions, and session search for retrieving past conversations. A durable project folder can hold the detailed evidence those small orientation layers point toward. These serve different purposes; placing a document in one does not automatically make it available everywhere.

Our recommended arrangement is to keep the project location and a few lasting conventions in memory, operating instructions in the project context, and decisions, sources and outputs in ordinary files. For a research project, memory might identify the project folder while a decision record explains why a source was accepted. That keeps the evidence inspectable when a summary becomes stale.

## Design a recovery check

Choose one fact that matters next week: the accepted output location, the owner of a decision, or the latest approved brief. Ask a fresh session to find it and cite its record. A successful answer should explain where the fact came from and distinguish accepted decisions from proposals. If it cannot, improve the record or its discoverability before adding more material.

Keep dates and supersession notes with changing decisions. A saved statement that a service was healthy yesterday should lead to a fresh check today; it should not become permanent proof of health. Avoid storing raw logs or credentials in an orientation note.

## Scope and limits

The current documentation describes profile-specific memory and a snapshot loaded at session start. Verify the active profile when comparing sessions. This guide explains an information-management pattern; it does not establish that your installation has written, loaded or recovered a particular memory successfully.

## Related tools

- [Carry project knowledge into the next session](https://hermeswatcher.com/workflows/project-knowledge.md)
- [Persistent memory: retain compact working knowledge](https://hermeswatcher.com/tools/memory.md)
- [Context files: give a project durable instructions](https://hermeswatcher.com/tools/context-files.md)

## Sources

- [Persistent Memory](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/features/memory)
- [Context Files](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/features/context-files)

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