/hindsight-docs

Strands Agents

Persistent memory tools for Strands Agents SDK agents via Hindsight. Give your agents long-term memory with retain, recall, and reflect — using Strands' native @tool pattern.

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Features

• Native @tool Functions - Tools are plain Python functions, compatible with Agent(tools=[...])
• Memory Instructions - Pre-recall memories for injection into agent system prompt
• Three Memory Tools - Retain (store), Recall (search), Reflect (synthesize) — include any combination
• Simple Configuration - Configure once globally, or pass a client directly

Installation

pip install hindsight-strands

Quick Start

💡 Recommended: Hindsight Cloud

Sign up free and grab an API key — no self-hosting required.

from strands import Agent
from hindsight_strands import create_hindsight_tools

tools = create_hindsight_tools(
    bank_id="user-123",
    hindsight_api_url="https://api.hindsight.vectorize.io",
    api_key="hsk_...",  # or set HINDSIGHT_API_KEY env var
)

agent = Agent(tools=tools)
agent("Remember that I prefer dark mode")
agent("What are my preferences?")

The agent now has three tools it can call:

• hindsight_retain — Store information to long-term memory
• hindsight_recall — Search long-term memory for relevant facts
• hindsight_reflect — Synthesize a reasoned answer from memories

Self-hosting (local development)

If you're running Hindsight locally with ./scripts/dev/start-api.sh, swap the URL:

tools = create_hindsight_tools(
    bank_id="user-123",
    hindsight_api_url="http://localhost:8888",
)

See the installation guide for self-hosting setup.

With Memory Instructions

Pre-recall relevant memories and inject them into the system prompt:

from hindsight_strands import create_hindsight_tools, memory_instructions

tools = create_hindsight_tools(
    bank_id="user-123",
    hindsight_api_url="https://api.hindsight.vectorize.io",
    api_key="hsk_...",
)

memories = memory_instructions(
    bank_id="user-123",
    hindsight_api_url="https://api.hindsight.vectorize.io",
    api_key="hsk_...",
)

agent = Agent(
    tools=tools,
    system_prompt=f"You are a helpful assistant.\n\n{memories}",
)

FastAPI Lifecycle (Recommended)

Prefer creating one shared Hindsight client in app lifespan and passing client=.... This gives explicit ownership and clean shutdown via await client.aclose().

from contextlib import asynccontextmanager

from fastapi import FastAPI
from hindsight_client import Hindsight
from hindsight_strands import create_hindsight_tools, memory_instructions

@asynccontextmanager
async def lifespan(app: FastAPI):
    client = Hindsight(base_url="https://api.hindsight.vectorize.io", api_key="hsk_...")
    app.state.hindsight_client = client
    try:
        yield
    finally:
        await client.aclose()

app = FastAPI(lifespan=lifespan)

@app.post("/chat")
async def chat():
    client = app.state.hindsight_client
    tools = create_hindsight_tools(bank_id="user-123", client=client)
    memories = memory_instructions(bank_id="user-123", client=client)
    ...

If you pass hindsight_api_url/api_key directly to create_hindsight_tools(), hindsight-strands creates the client internally. In that case call await tools.aclose() (or tools.close()) during shutdown.

Selecting Tools

Include only the tools you need:

tools = create_hindsight_tools(
    bank_id="user-123",
    hindsight_api_url="https://api.hindsight.vectorize.io",
    api_key="hsk_...",
    enable_retain=True,
    enable_recall=True,
    enable_reflect=False,  # Omit reflect
)

Global Configuration

Instead of passing connection details to every call, configure once:

from hindsight_strands import configure, create_hindsight_tools

configure(
    hindsight_api_url="http://localhost:8888",
    api_key="your-api-key",       # Or set HINDSIGHT_API_KEY env var
    budget="mid",                  # Recall budget: low/mid/high
    max_tokens=4096,               # Max tokens for recall results
    tags=["env:prod"],             # Tags for stored memories
    recall_tags=["scope:global"],  # Tags to filter recall
    recall_tags_match="any",       # Tag match mode: any/all/any_strict/all_strict
)

# Now create tools without passing connection details
tools = create_hindsight_tools(bank_id="user-123")

Configuration Reference

create_hindsight_tools()

memory_instructions()

configure()

Requirements

• Python >= 3.10
• strands-agents
• hindsight-client >= 0.4.0
• A running Hindsight API server