---
slug: "PathwayMemory"
name: "PathwayMemory"
type: "Memory"
layer: "Mind"
ref: "PathwayMemory#ce2e"
sema_id: "sema:PathwayMemory#mh:SHA-256:ce2e6ce822404fae0e60a43fc2c6fbe2e4d51ab9aefee1e7a9e21da75893e722"
tags: ["Mind","Memory"]
updated: 2026-11-11
mindscape: "bootstrap"
index_url: https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap.json
url: https://mindscape.world/bootstrap/PathwayMemory/
related: ["Cache","ArchiveServingFrontier","MarginalValueRule","MetaProtocols","OptimisticSolver","PerformanceSignal","PolymorphicSolver","ReceptivityGate","RootSolver"]
---

# PathwayMemory

Learned routing memory: problem_class → route → outcome_quality

Layer: Mind · Category: Memory

## Mechanism

A [Cache](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Cache.md) of routing outcomes, recording (problem_class, route_chosen, outcome_quality) tuples. Enables a dispatching Solver to learn which routes produce better results for which problem types. The RootSolver's PathwayMemory is the architecture's most consequential site of compounding — it sees how every problem enters the system, and its accumulated routing decisions determine which reasoning highways densify over time. Every dispatching node has its own PathwayMemory; they are not shared, but can be aggregated for cross-node learning.

## Invariants

- Append-only within a session: historical records are not edited, only new entries added.
- Scoped: each PathwayMemory belongs to exactly one dispatching node.

## Failure modes

- Poisoned entries (false outcome_quality from compromised writers) silently bias all downstream routing without triggering any failure mode.
- Stale entries reflecting outdated problem distributions mislead current routing; no automatic aging.
- Cross-node aggregation without provenance contaminates local routing with off-domain signal.

## Data schema

```json
{
  "type": "object",
  "required": [
    "entries"
  ],
  "properties": {
    "entries": {
      "type": "array",
      "description": "List of routing records",
      "items": {
        "type": "object",
        "required": [
          "problem_class",
          "route_chosen",
          "outcome_quality"
        ],
        "properties": {
          "problem_class": {
            "type": "string"
          },
          "route_chosen": {
            "type": "string"
          },
          "outcome_quality": {
            "type": "number"
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}
```

## Caution

Silent contamination vector — poisoned entries bias all downstream routing decisions without triggering failure modes. Integrity of writers must be enforced.

## Builds on

- [Cache](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Cache.md) (Infrastructure; References)

## Used by

- [ArchiveServingFrontier](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/ArchiveServingFrontier.md) (Mind; References)
- [MarginalValueRule](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/MarginalValueRule.md) (Mind; References)
- [MetaProtocols](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/MetaProtocols.md) (Mind; References)
- [OptimisticSolver](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/OptimisticSolver.md) (Society; Composes with)
- [PerformanceSignal](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/PerformanceSignal.md) (Infrastructure; References)
- [PolymorphicSolver](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/PolymorphicSolver.md) (Mind; Composes with)
- [ReceptivityGate](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/ReceptivityGate.md) (Society; References)
- [RootSolver](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/RootSolver.md) (Mind; Composes with)

## Identity

- Sema ID: `sema:PathwayMemory#mh:SHA-256:ce2e6ce822404fae0e60a43fc2c6fbe2e4d51ab9aefee1e7a9e21da75893e722`
- Ref: `PathwayMemory#ce2e`
- Supersedes:
  - `sema:PathwayMemory#mh:SHA-256:b6a0e82ce9362d546f5ac2da3610ced5e67a516f67fa0756aa90051a74180b82`
  - `sema:PathwayMemory#mh:SHA-256:b15f1dd794db8b776de7646d2431466934bb901c3d443e0c92e85b58ad3c3ca5`

## Links

- [Pattern page](https://mindscape.world/bootstrap/PathwayMemory/)
- [View in the interactive graph](https://mindscape.world/bootstrap/#PathwayMemory)
- [JSON](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/PathwayMemory.json)
- [Index of all patterns](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap.json)