> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.ainomos.ch/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Memory and sources

> Understand what a room's answers draw on: its own memory, the rooms above it, and shared reference material.

A memory is where Ainomos keeps the knowledge a room's answers can draw on and cite. Every room gets its own memory when the room is created. A room's answers also draw on the memories of the rooms above it, and on reference material the room subscribes to. Knowing which memories feed a room tells you where an answer's sources come from and who keeps them current.

## What a room's answers draw on

| Source | What it holds | Who keeps it current |
| - | - | - |
| The room's own memory | The documents and other knowledge entries brought into this room. | The room's owners and curators. |
| Memories of the rooms above | Everything the rooms higher in the tree hold. It applies in every room below them. | The owners and curators of the room it comes from. |
| Subscribed memories | Reference material shared from outside the room, such as the platform library. | Whoever publishes it. Your room cannot change it. |

Ainomos searches all of these for every question asked in the room. On a wide screen, the sources list of an answer names the memory each passage came from. See [reading answers](https://docs.ainomos.ch/chat/reading-answers.md).

## Where you work with a room's memory

There is no separate Memory page. You look after a room's own memory on the Knowledge pages:

* **Import** brings documents into the room. See [Import](https://docs.ainomos.ch/import/documents.md).
* **Documents** lists what the memory holds and lets you correct each document's details. See [Documents](https://docs.ainomos.ch/knowledge/documents.md).
* **Dreaming** keeps the memory consistent and holds its dreaming settings. See [Dreaming](https://docs.ainomos.ch/knowledge/dreaming.md).
* **Knowledge Health** lists what needs attention. See [Knowledge Health](https://docs.ainomos.ch/knowledge/knowledge-health.md).

Who can do this: room owners and curators maintain a room's memory.

## Who curates a memory

A room owner can name curators in the room's responsibilities, for one of two scopes:

| Option | What the person can do |
| - | - |
| **Curator for the whole room** | Curate the room's knowledge and change room-wide knowledge settings. |
| **Curator for memory** (with the memory's name) | Import into the room, edit document details, use **Read again**, and decide dreaming proposals and Knowledge Health findings for the room. No room-wide settings. |

See [roles](https://docs.ainomos.ch/admin/roles.md) for how to grant a responsibility.

## Reference libraries

Some material is public and the same for every organisation, for example Swiss federal law. An installation can keep such material once, in a platform library, instead of a copy per organisation.

When your organisation is set up, its top room subscribes to every collection the platform library offers. Because memories apply downwards, every room can then cite it. The library is read-only. The platform keeps it current, and nobody in your organisation needs to maintain it. If your installation has no platform library, answers do not cite one.

## Binding and advisory

Each source in an answer carries a standing, shown as a badge on its row.

| Standing | Which sources | What it means for the answer |
| - | - | - |
| **Binding** | Accepted decisions, and memories a room subscribed to as binding. | Ranked first and given to the model as authoritative. Ainomos does not check the answer against them sentence by sentence. |
| **Advisory** | Document passages and other knowledge entries. Subscribed memories are advisory unless subscribed as binding, and the platform library is advisory. | Consulted and cited, without priority over other sources. |

If the same memory is subscribed as binding in any room above, it counts as binding in yours too.

## Related

* [Knowledge overview](https://docs.ainomos.ch/knowledge/overview.md)
* [Documents](https://docs.ainomos.ch/knowledge/documents.md)
* [Reading answers](https://docs.ainomos.ch/chat/reading-answers.md)
* [Roles](https://docs.ainomos.ch/admin/roles.md)


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