Memory component base (#5380)

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## Why are these changes needed?

Currently the way to accomplish RAG behavior with agent chat,
specifically assistant agents is with the memory interface, however
there is no way to configure it via the declarative API.

<!-- Please give a short summary of the change and the problem this
solves. -->

## Related issue number

<!-- For example: "Closes #1234" -->

## Checks

- [ ] I've included any doc changes needed for
https://microsoft.github.io/autogen/. See
https://microsoft.github.io/autogen/docs/Contribute#documentation to
build and test documentation locally.
- [ ] I've added tests (if relevant) corresponding to the changes
introduced in this PR.
- [ ] I've made sure all auto checks have passed.

---------

Co-authored-by: Victor Dibia <[email protected]>

python/packages/autogen-agentchat/src/autogen_agentchat/agents/_assistant_agent.py

@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ class AssistantAgentConfig(BaseModel):
     tools: List[ComponentModel] | None
     handoffs: List[HandoffBase | str] | None = None
     model_context: ComponentModel | None = None
+    memory: List[ComponentModel] | None = None
     description: str
     system_message: str | None = None
     model_client_stream: bool = False
@@ -591,6 +592,7 @@ def _to_config(self) -> AssistantAgentConfig:
             tools=[tool.dump_component() for tool in self._tools],
             handoffs=list(self._handoffs.values()),
             model_context=self._model_context.dump_component(),
+            memory=[memory.dump_component() for memory in self._memory] if self._memory else None,
             description=self.description,
             system_message=self._system_messages[0].content
             if self._system_messages and isinstance(self._system_messages[0].content, str)
@@ -609,6 +611,7 @@ def _from_config(cls, config: AssistantAgentConfig) -> Self:
             tools=[BaseTool.load_component(tool) for tool in config.tools] if config.tools else None,
             handoffs=config.handoffs,
             model_context=None,
+            memory=[Memory.load_component(memory) for memory in config.memory] if config.memory else None,
             description=config.description,
             system_message=config.system_message,
             model_client_stream=config.model_client_stream,

python/packages/autogen-agentchat/tests/test_assistant_agent.py

@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
     ToolCallRequestEvent,
     ToolCallSummaryMessage,
 )
-from autogen_core import FunctionCall, Image
+from autogen_core import ComponentModel, FunctionCall, Image
 from autogen_core.memory import ListMemory, Memory, MemoryContent, MemoryMimeType, MemoryQueryResult
 from autogen_core.model_context import BufferedChatCompletionContext
 from autogen_core.models import (
@@ -754,7 +754,12 @@ async def test_run_with_memory(monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch) -> None:
         "test_agent", model_client=OpenAIChatCompletionClient(model=model, api_key=""), memory=[memory2]
     )
 
-    result = await agent.run(task="test task")
+    # Test dump and load component with memory
+    agent_config: ComponentModel = agent.dump_component()
+    assert agent_config.provider == "autogen_agentchat.agents.AssistantAgent"
+    agent2 = AssistantAgent.load_component(agent_config)
+
+    result = await agent2.run(task="test task")
     assert len(result.messages) > 0
     memory_event = next((msg for msg in result.messages if isinstance(msg, MemoryQueryEvent)), None)
     assert memory_event is not None
@@ -795,9 +800,10 @@ async def test_assistant_agent_declarative(monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch) -> N
         "test_agent",
         model_client=OpenAIChatCompletionClient(model=model, api_key=""),
         model_context=model_context,
+        memory=[ListMemory(name="test_memory")],
     )
 
-    agent_config = agent.dump_component()
+    agent_config: ComponentModel = agent.dump_component()
     assert agent_config.provider == "autogen_agentchat.agents.AssistantAgent"
 
     agent2 = AssistantAgent.load_component(agent_config)

python/packages/autogen-core/src/autogen_core/memory/_base_memory.py

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 from pydantic import BaseModel, ConfigDict
 
 from .._cancellation_token import CancellationToken
+from .._component_config import ComponentBase
 from .._image import Image
 from ..model_context import ChatCompletionContext
 
@@ -49,7 +50,7 @@ class UpdateContextResult(BaseModel):
     memories: MemoryQueryResult
 
 
-class Memory(ABC):
+class Memory(ABC, ComponentBase[BaseModel]):
     """Protocol defining the interface for memory implementations.
 
     A memory is the storage for data that can be used to enrich or modify the model context.
@@ -64,6 +65,8 @@ class Memory(ABC):
     See :class:`~autogen_core.memory.ListMemory` for an example implementation.
     """
 
+    component_type = "memory"
+
     @abstractmethod
     async def update_context(
         self,

python/packages/autogen-core/src/autogen_core/memory/_list_memory.py

@@ -1,12 +1,25 @@
 from typing import Any, List
 
+from pydantic import BaseModel
+from typing_extensions import Self
+
 from .._cancellation_token import CancellationToken
+from .._component_config import Component
 from ..model_context import ChatCompletionContext
 from ..models import SystemMessage
 from ._base_memory import Memory, MemoryContent, MemoryQueryResult, UpdateContextResult
 
 
-class ListMemory(Memory):
+class ListMemoryConfig(BaseModel):
+    """Configuration for ListMemory component."""
+
+    name: str | None = None
+    """Optional identifier for this memory instance."""
+    memory_contents: List[MemoryContent] = []
+    """List of memory contents stored in this memory instance."""
+
+
+class ListMemory(Memory, Component[ListMemoryConfig]):
     """Simple chronological list-based memory implementation.
 
     This memory implementation stores contents in a list and retrieves them in
@@ -53,9 +66,13 @@ async def main() -> None:
 
     """
 
-    def __init__(self, name: str | None = None) -> None:
+    component_type = "memory"
+    component_provider_override = "autogen_core.memory.ListMemory"
+    component_config_schema = ListMemoryConfig
+
+    def __init__(self, name: str | None = None, memory_contents: List[MemoryContent] | None = None) -> None:
         self._name = name or "default_list_memory"
-        self._contents: List[MemoryContent] = []
+        self._contents: List[MemoryContent] = memory_contents if memory_contents is not None else []
 
     @property
     def name(self) -> str:
@@ -146,3 +163,10 @@ async def clear(self) -> None:
     async def close(self) -> None:
         """Cleanup resources if needed."""
         pass
+
+    @classmethod
+    def _from_config(cls, config: ListMemoryConfig) -> Self:
+        return cls(name=config.name, memory_contents=config.memory_contents)
+
+    def _to_config(self) -> ListMemoryConfig:
+        return ListMemoryConfig(name=self.name, memory_contents=self._contents)

python/packages/autogen-core/tests/test_memory.py

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 from typing import Any
 
 import pytest
-from autogen_core import CancellationToken
+from autogen_core import CancellationToken, ComponentModel
 from autogen_core.memory import (
     ListMemory,
     Memory,
@@ -23,6 +23,34 @@ def test_memory_protocol_attributes() -> None:
     assert hasattr(Memory, "close")
 
 
+def test_memory_component_load_config_from_base_model() -> None:
+    """Test that Memory component can be loaded from a BaseModel."""
+    config = ComponentModel(
+        provider="autogen_core.memory.ListMemory",
+        config={
+            "name": "test_memory",
+            "memory_contents": [MemoryContent(content="test", mime_type=MemoryMimeType.TEXT)],
+        },
+    )
+    memory = Memory.load_component(config)
+    assert isinstance(memory, ListMemory)
+    assert memory.name == "test_memory"
+    assert len(memory.content) == 1
+
+
+def test_memory_component_dump_config_to_base_model() -> None:
+    """Test that Memory component can be dumped to a BaseModel."""
+    memory = ListMemory(
+        name="test_memory", memory_contents=[MemoryContent(content="test", mime_type=MemoryMimeType.TEXT)]
+    )
+    config = memory.dump_component()
+    assert isinstance(config, ComponentModel)
+    assert config.provider == "autogen_core.memory.ListMemory"
+    assert config.component_type == "memory"
+    assert config.config["name"] == "test_memory"
+    assert len(config.config["memory_contents"]) == 1
+
+
 def test_memory_abc_implementation() -> None:
     """Test that Memory ABC is properly implemented."""