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Procedural Memory

Agents often solve the same kind of problem repeatedly — refund a delayed order, onboard a new user, debug a failing deployment. Procedural memory lets agents learn successful tool-call sequences and reuse them when a similar situation arises. Instead of reasoning from scratch every time, the agent can recall a proven procedure and follow it, reducing latency, token usage, and error rates.

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How It Works

  1. After a successful run, the memory system analyzes the tool-call sequence
  2. If the sequence is multi-step and coherent, it’s extracted as a procedure
  3. On future runs, buildContext() checks if any stored procedure matches the current query
  4. If a match is found, the procedure is injected into the system prompt as a suggested plan
The agent isn’t forced to follow the procedure — it’s presented as a recommendation. The agent can adapt, skip steps, or ignore it entirely based on the current context.

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Quick Start

import { Agent, MongoDBStorage, openai } from "@radaros/core";

const agent = new Agent({
  name: "support-agent",
  model: openai("gpt-4o"),
  memory: {
    storage: new MongoDBStorage({ uri: "mongodb://localhost/radaros" }),
    procedures: true,
  },
});
That’s it. The agent will automatically learn procedures from successful runs and suggest them when relevant.

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Configuration

For fine-grained control, pass a configuration object: 
memory: {
  storage,
  procedures: {
    maxProcedures: 100,         // max stored procedures (default: 50)
    minSteps: 2,                // minimum tool calls to qualify (default: 2)
    maxSteps: 20,               // maximum steps in a procedure (default: 20)
    matchThreshold: 0.7,        // semantic similarity to suggest (default: 0.7)
    autoExtract: true,          // extract after successful runs (default: true)
    successThreshold: 2,        // times a procedure must succeed before suggesting (default: 1)
  },
}
PropertyTypeDefaultDescription
maxProceduresnumber50Maximum stored procedures before oldest are evicted
minStepsnumber2Minimum tool-call steps for a sequence to be extracted
maxStepsnumber20Maximum steps recorded per procedure
matchThresholdnumber0.7Semantic similarity threshold to suggest a procedure
autoExtractbooleantrueAutomatically extract procedures after runs
successThresholdnumber1Minimum success count before a procedure is suggested

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Procedure Structure

Each stored procedure contains: 
interface Procedure {
  id: string;
  trigger: string;              // natural language description of when to use
  steps: ProcedureStep[];       // ordered tool-call sequence
  successCount: number;         // times this procedure led to a successful outcome
  failureCount: number;         // times the agent deviated or the outcome failed
  lastUsed: Date;
  createdAt: Date;
  embedding: number[];          // vector for semantic matching
}

interface ProcedureStep {
  toolName: string;             // which tool to call
  description: string;          // what this step accomplishes
  parameterHints: Record<string, string>;  // typical parameter patterns
  order: number;
}

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Example Procedure

After the agent successfully processes a refund, this procedure might be extracted: 
{
  trigger: "Customer requests refund for a delayed order",
  steps: [
    { toolName: "search_orders", description: "Look up the order by ID or customer", order: 1,
      parameterHints: { query: "order ID or customer email" } },
    { toolName: "check_delivery_status", description: "Verify the order is actually delayed", order: 2,
      parameterHints: { orderId: "from previous step" } },
    { toolName: "calculate_refund", description: "Compute refund amount based on delay policy", order: 3,
      parameterHints: { orderId: "from step 1", delayDays: "from step 2" } },
    { toolName: "process_refund", description: "Issue the refund to the customer", order: 4,
      parameterHints: { orderId: "from step 1", amount: "from step 3" } },
    { toolName: "send_notification", description: "Notify the customer about the refund", order: 5,
      parameterHints: { customerId: "from step 1", message: "refund confirmation" } },
  ],
  successCount: 12,
  failureCount: 1,
  lastUsed: new Date("2026-04-06"),
}

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How Procedures Are Learned

After each run, the memory system evaluates the tool-call sequence: 
// Run completes successfully with this tool sequence:
// 1. search_orders({ query: "order #7890" })
// 2. check_delivery_status({ orderId: "7890" })
// 3. calculate_refund({ orderId: "7890", delayDays: 5 })
// 4. process_refund({ orderId: "7890", amount: 29.99 })
// 5. send_notification({ customerId: "cust-456", message: "Refund of $29.99 processed" })

// The extraction model:
// 1. Identifies this as a coherent multi-step workflow (not random tool calls)
// 2. Generalizes the parameters (replaces specific IDs with descriptions)
// 3. Creates a trigger description: "Customer requests refund for a delayed order"
// 4. Stores as a new procedure (or increments successCount on an existing match)
If a similar sequence is already stored, the existing procedure’s successCount is incremented rather than creating a duplicate.

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Procedure Matching with suggestProcedure

Before each run, the memory system checks for matching procedures: 
const suggestion = await agent.memory?.suggestProcedure({
  input: "Customer wants a refund — order #4567 was supposed to arrive last week",
  tools: agent.tools,   // only suggest procedures whose tools are available
});

if (suggestion) {
  console.log(suggestion.trigger);
  // "Customer requests refund for a delayed order"
  console.log(suggestion.steps.map(s => s.toolName));
  // ["search_orders", "check_delivery_status", "calculate_refund", "process_refund", "send_notification"]
  console.log(suggestion.successCount);
  // 12
}
The matching uses semantic similarity between the current input and stored procedure triggers. Only procedures whose required tools are available to the agent are suggested.

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The recall_procedure Tool

When procedural memory is enabled, the agent gains access to the recall_procedure tool, which it can call at any time during a run: 
// Agent can explicitly search for a known procedure:
// recall_procedure({ query: "how to process international shipping" })
// → {
//     trigger: "Handle international shipping request",
//     steps: [
//       { toolName: "validate_address", description: "Check international address format" },
//       { toolName: "calculate_duties", description: "Compute customs duties and taxes" },
//       { toolName: "create_shipment", description: "Create international shipment" },
//       { toolName: "generate_customs_form", description: "Generate customs declaration" },
//     ],
//     successCount: 8,
//   }
This is useful when the automatic suggestion doesn’t fire (e.g., the query doesn’t match the trigger closely enough) but the agent recognizes mid-conversation that a known workflow applies.

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Full Example: Learning and Reusing

import { Agent, MongoDBStorage, openai, defineTool } from "@radaros/core";
import { z } from "zod";

const searchOrders = defineTool({
  name: "search_orders",
  description: "Search orders by ID, email, or keyword",
  parameters: z.object({ query: z.string() }),
  execute: async ({ query }) => ({ orderId: "ORD-7890", status: "delayed", customer: "alice@example.com" }),
});

const checkDelivery = defineTool({
  name: "check_delivery_status",
  description: "Check delivery status and delay duration",
  parameters: z.object({ orderId: z.string() }),
  execute: async ({ orderId }) => ({ status: "delayed", delayDays: 5, carrier: "FedEx" }),
});

const processRefund = defineTool({
  name: "process_refund",
  description: "Issue a refund for an order",
  parameters: z.object({ orderId: z.string(), amount: z.number() }),
  execute: async ({ orderId, amount }) => ({ success: true, refundId: "REF-001" }),
});

const agent = new Agent({
  name: "support-agent",
  model: openai("gpt-4o"),
  tools: [searchOrders, checkDelivery, processRefund],
  memory: {
    storage: new MongoDBStorage({ uri: "mongodb://localhost/radaros" }),
    procedures: {
      maxProcedures: 100,
      matchThreshold: 0.7,
    },
    model: openai("gpt-4o-mini"),
  },
});

// --- Run 1: Agent solves a refund from scratch ---
await agent.run({
  input: "Order #7890 never arrived. I want a refund.",
  userId: "user-alice",
});
// Agent reasons through: search_orders → check_delivery_status → process_refund
// After run: procedure extracted automatically

// --- Run 2: Similar request, procedure is suggested ---
await agent.run({
  input: "My order #1234 is late. Can I get my money back?",
  userId: "user-bob",
});
// Agent sees in its system prompt:
//   "Suggested procedure (used successfully 1 time):
//    1. search_orders — look up the order
//    2. check_delivery_status — verify the delay
//    3. process_refund — issue the refund"
//
// Agent follows the procedure, completing faster with fewer tokens
After multiple successful uses, the procedure’s successCount grows, and the agent can reference its track record when deciding to follow it.

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How Procedures Evolve

Procedures aren’t static. Over time:
  • Success reinforcement — each successful use increments successCount
  • Failure tracking — if the agent deviates or the user reports a bad outcome, failureCount increments
  • Eviction — when maxProcedures is reached, procedures with the lowest success-to-failure ratio and oldest lastUsed date are evicted
  • Merging — if two procedures are semantically very similar, they’re merged (steps unified, counts combined)

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Cross-References