Retrieval Scoping

Filtering candidates by hard, non-negotiable keys — owner, agent, memory type, validity window — before anything is ranked.

Why it matters in a memory layer

Scope is a correctness boundary, not a performance optimisation. Ranking across users and trusting similarity to keep them apart is how memory systems leak between tenants, and the failure is silent: the wrong person's fact simply scores well. Filter first, always.

Connections

Taught in: Retrieval Is Not Enough

Used in: Personalization Without Creepiness · Memory Access Control · Memory Topologies · Scaling the Store · Three Temporal Questions · Getting Memories Into the Prompt · Watching It Fail · The Underrated Default · Scope, Then Rank · Scopes and Namespaces

Do not confuse with: Vector Search