feat(memory): add CUSTOM strategy type to agentcore-cli (#677) by aidandaly24 · Pull Request #694 · aws/agentcore-cli

aidandaly24 · 2026-03-27T03:26:19Z

Description

Adds CUSTOM as a 5th memory strategy type across schema, CLI, TUI, docs, and tests. This enables users to configure self-managed memory strategies with user-controlled extraction logic, closing the gap between the CDK (which already supported CUSTOM) and the CLI.

Closes #677

Changes

Added CUSTOM to MemoryStrategyTypeSchema Zod enum (single source of truth)
Added CUSTOM description to TUI strategy selection screen
Added 'custom' as a new MemoryOption in the project create wizard
Updated CLI validation and help text to derive from schema (eliminates source-of-truth drift)
CUSTOM intentionally has no default namespaces in DEFAULT_STRATEGY_NAMESPACES (uses Partial<Record> for type safety)
Added CUSTOM block to session.py Handlebars templates (HTTP and MCP)
Wired mapExistingMemoriesToProviders for dedup when adding agents to projects with existing memories
Updated docs (memory.md, commands.md, configuration.md) and AGENTS.md
Fixed pre-existing gap: added EPISODIC strategy row to docs/configuration.md
Updated snapshot tests for asset changes
Added comprehensive unit tests (18 new tests in schema-mapper.test.ts)

TUI Screenshots

Screenshots of the add memory TUI flow showing all 5 strategies (SVG format):

Type of Change

Testing

How have you tested the change?

I ran npm run test:unit and npm run test:integ
I ran npm run typecheck
I ran npm run lint
If I modified src/assets/, I ran npm run test:update-snapshots and committed the updated snapshots

Test results:

3088/3090 unit tests pass (2 pre-existing PTY failures unrelated to this PR)
61 schema-mapper tests pass (18 new: CUSTOM mapping, existingMemories dedup, render config wiring)
110/110 validation tests pass (CUSTOM standalone, combined with other strategies)
9/9 add-memory integration tests pass (CUSTOM strategy creation via CLI)
TUI harness verified: all 5 strategy options displayed with correct CUSTOM description

New test coverage includes:

mapGenerateInputToMemories('custom') — single CUSTOM strategy, no namespaces/reflectionNamespaces
mapGenerateConfigToResources with memory: 'custom'
mapExistingMemoriesToProviders — CUSTOM strategy, empty strategies, multiple memories
mapGenerateConfigToRenderConfig with existingMemories — dedup logic, hasMemory from existing, combining existing + new custom memory

Checklist

I have read the CONTRIBUTING document
I have added any necessary tests that prove my fix is effective or my feature works
I have updated the documentation accordingly
I have added an appropriate example to the documentation to outline the feature, or no new docs are needed
My changes generate no new warnings
Any dependent changes have been merged and published

By submitting this pull request, I confirm that you can use, modify, copy, and redistribute this contribution, under the
terms of your choice.

Enable self-managed (CUSTOM) memory strategy in the CLI, aligning with the CDK constructs which already support customMemoryStrategy via CloudFormation. Changes: - Add CUSTOM to MemoryStrategyTypeSchema enum and validation - Add CUSTOM description to TUI wizard strategy picker - Update CLI help text, LLM-compacted types, and AGENTS.md - Add documentation for self-managed strategy in docs/ - Update tests: flip rejection tests to acceptance, add new cases - Regenerate asset snapshots Constraint: CDK already maps CUSTOM → customMemoryStrategy in CFN Rejected: New SELF_MANAGED type | cross-layer naming inconsistency with CDK Confidence: high Scope-risk: narrow

Eliminates source-of-truth drift by deriving the valid strategies array and CLI help text from MemoryStrategyTypeSchema.options instead of maintaining hand-written duplicates. Constraint: MemoryStrategyTypeSchema is the single source of truth Confidence: high Scope-risk: narrow

Without this, selecting CUSTOM as the only strategy would render an empty retrieval_config dict with no guidance. Now both HTTP and A2A Strands templates include a CUSTOM Handlebars block with a TODO comment guiding users to add their own namespace and retrieval config. Constraint: CUSTOM is self-managed — no default namespaces to vend Rejected: Auto-generating a placeholder namespace | would mislead users into thinking it works out of the box Confidence: high Scope-risk: narrow

…ories to new agents Add 'custom' as a 4th MemoryOption in the create/add-agent wizards, completing CUSTOM strategy support across all CLI flows. When adding an agent to a project with existing memories, the template now references all existing memories instead of always creating new ones. - Add 'custom' to MemoryOption type, MEMORY_OPTIONS array, and all validation/help text across create and add-agent commands - Add 'custom' case to mapGenerateInputToMemories (CUSTOM strategy, no default namespaces) and getMemoryLabel in wizard UI - Add mapExistingMemoriesToProviders() to convert project Memory[] to MemoryProviderRenderConfig[] for template rendering - Update mapGenerateConfigToRenderConfig to accept existing memories and merge them with new memory providers (deduped by name) - Update writeAgentToProject to skip adding duplicate memories - Wire existing project.memories through both add-agent paths (AgentPrimitive CLI + useAddAgent TUI hook) Constraint: Strands Agent takes a single session_manager, so session.py references memoryProviders[0] as the primary memory Rejected: Multi-select wizard for memory | template only supports one session_manager, all memory env vars already available at runtime Confidence: high Scope-risk: moderate

Add 18 new tests to schema-mapper.test.ts covering: - mapGenerateInputToMemories with 'custom' MemoryOption - mapGenerateConfigToResources with custom memory - mapGenerateConfigToRenderConfig with existingMemories parameter (dedup logic, hasMemory from existing, combining existing + new) - mapExistingMemoriesToProviders (CUSTOM, empty strategies, multiple) Also fix docs/configuration.md missing EPISODIC strategy row. Constraint: CUSTOM strategy has no default namespaces or reflectionNamespaces Constraint: Dedup operates on provider name, not strategy type Confidence: high Scope-risk: narrow

notgitika

For follow up, unrelated to this PR but a preexisting pattern:
MemoryOption type is defined in two places
MemoryOption is defined in both:

src/cli/commands/create/action.ts:123 — type MemoryOption = 'none' | 'shortTerm' | 'longAndShortTerm' | 'custom'
src/cli/tui/screens/generate/types.ts:51 — same definition

The schema-mapper imports from types.ts. The action.ts definition is a separate copy. If one gets updated and the other doesn't, they'll drift. Consider exporting from one location.

MEMORY_OPTIONS array is defined in 3 places

MEMORY_OPTIONS as ['none', 'shortTerm', 'longAndShortTerm', 'custom'] as const appears in:

src/cli/commands/add/validate.ts:37
src/cli/commands/create/validate.ts:24
src/cli/tui/screens/generate/types.ts:155 (as object array)

github-actions · 2026-03-27T17:21:09Z

Package Tarball

aws-agentcore-0.3.0-preview.9.0.tgz

How to install

npm install https://github.com/aws/agentcore-cli/releases/download/pr-694-tarball/aws-agentcore-0.3.0-preview.9.0.tgz

notgitika

LGTM

#694)" This reverts commit beac707.

* Revert "feat: add semanticOverride support for SEMANTIC memory strategies (#678) (#696)" This reverts commit 5e0f584. * Revert "feat(memory): add CUSTOM strategy type to agentcore-cli (#677) (#694)" This reverts commit beac707. * fix: restore EPISODIC strategy to configuration.md The revert of the CUSTOM strategy commit inadvertently removed the EPISODIC row from the Memory Strategies table in configuration.md.

aidandaly24 requested a review from a team March 27, 2026 03:26

github-actions bot added the size/m PR size: M label Mar 27, 2026

aidandaly24 temporarily deployed to e2e-testing March 27, 2026 03:26 — with GitHub Actions Inactive