---
id: MEM-2
family: GR-MEM
level: extended
profiles: [storage-api, runtime]
posture: normative-target
added: "1.0"
changed: "1.0"
source: https://flowdrop.io/spec/rules/gr-mem/mem-2
specification: FlowDrop Workflow Specification 1.0-draft
licence: CC BY 4.0
---

# MEM-2 — An assistant turn is a duplicate only when every call it declares is known

*GR-MEM (Part I) · level: extended · profiles: storage-api, runtime · added in 1.0*

The assistant side of the same guard. Dropping a turn that declares one new call would lose that call, so a partial overlap is kept.

## The rule

> **Normative.** This is the rule.
>
> 1. An `assistant`-role message is dropped as a duplicate only when every tool call id it declares is already declared somewhere in the buffer.
>
> 2. A turn declaring at least one id not yet seen is appended.


## What it means

The assistant side of MEM-1's guard is not symmetric with it. A tool result
is one id; an assistant turn can declare several at once, and dropping the
whole turn because *some* of its ids are already known would silently lose
whichever ones are not. A turn is a duplicate only when every id it declares
is already declared somewhere in the buffer — a single new id is enough to
keep it.

## Example

A buffer already holds a turn that declared tool call `c1`.

```json title="A turn declaring only the id already known" verdict="dropped"
{ "role": "assistant", "content": "", "tool_calls": [{ "tool_call_id": "c1", "name": "search" }] }
```

```json title="A turn declaring one known id and one new one" verdict="kept"
{ "role": "assistant", "content": "", "tool_calls": [{ "tool_call_id": "c1", "name": "search" }, { "tool_call_id": "c2", "name": "lookup" }] }
```

## Related rules

- Names: MEM-1
- Referenced by: MEM-1, MEM-11

---

Rule identifiers are permanent and are never renumbered. This specification carries
no implementation status: each implementation publishes its own standing against
these rules. Licensed CC BY 4.0.