# Collaborative Memory: Multi-User Memory Sharing in LLM Agents with Dynamic Access Control

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.18279 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.18279/

## Key facts

- Cited by 61 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Placed in Agent memory systems, one of 16 directions in LLM agents and tool use.
- Builds on 19 of its 27 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 23 May 2025.

## Placed in

- LLM agents and tool use / [Agent memory systems](https://mlsanity.com/agents/agent-memory-systems/)

## Builds on (most cited first, 19 of 19)

- [Retrieval-Augmented Generation for Knowledge-Intensive NLP Tasks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2005.11401/) (2020)
- [ReAct: Synergizing Reasoning and Acting in Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.03629/) (2022)
- [Reflexion: Language Agents with Verbal Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.11366/) (2023)
- [Toolformer: Language Models Can Teach Themselves to Use Tools](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.04761/) (2023)
- [AutoGen: Enabling Next-Gen LLM Applications via Multi-Agent Conversation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.08155/) (2023)
- [From Local to Global: A Graph RAG Approach to Query-Focused Summarization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.16130/) (2024)
- [MemGPT: Towards LLMs as Operating Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.08560/) (2023)
- [Large Language Model based Multi-Agents: A Survey of Progress and Challenges](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.01680/) (2024)
- [AgentVerse: Facilitating Multi-Agent Collaboration and Exploring Emergent Behaviors](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.10848/) (2023)
- [MemoryBank: Enhancing Large Language Models with Long-Term Memory](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.10250/) (2023)
- [Multi-Agent Collaboration Mechanisms: A Survey of LLMs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2501.06322/) (2025)
- [HippoRAG: Neurobiologically Inspired Long-Term Memory for Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.14831/) (2024)
- [MultiHop-RAG: Benchmarking Retrieval-Augmented Generation for Multi-Hop Queries](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.15391/) (2024)
- [From Isolated Conversations to Hierarchical Schemas: Dynamic Tree Memory Representation for LLMs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.14052/) (2024)
- [Think-in-Memory: Recalling and Post-thinking Enable LLMs with Long-Term Memory](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.08719/) (2023)
- [INMS: Memory Sharing for Large Language Model based Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.09982/) (2024)
- [SciQAG: A Framework for Auto-Generated Science Question Answering Dataset with Fine-grained Evaluation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.09939/) (2024)
- [Enhancing LLM Intelligence with ARM-RAG: Auxiliary Rationale Memory for Retrieval Augmented Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.04177/) (2023)
- [Multi-LLM Collaborative Search for Complex Problem Solving](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.18873/) (2025)

## Built on by (most cited first, 30 of 61)

- [Memory in the Age of AI Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.13564/) (2025)
- [A Survey of Agentic Reasoning for Large Language Models: Towards Recursively Self-Improving and Collective Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.12538/) (2026)
- [A Survey of Agent Memory in the Second Half: Towards Self-Evolving and Long-Horizon Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.06052/) (2026)
- [A Survey on Long-Term Memory Security in LLM Agents: Attacks, Defenses, and Governance Across the Memory Lifecycle](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.16548/) (2026)
- [Graph-based Agent Memory: Taxonomy, Techniques, and Applications](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.05665/) (2026)
- [From Storage to Experience: A Survey on the Evolution of LLM Agent Memory Mechanisms](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.06716/) (2026)
- [Governing Evolving Memory in LLM Agents: Risks, Mechanisms, and the Stability and Safety Governed Memory (SSGM) Framework](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.11768/) (2026)
- [Toward Efficient Agents: Memory, Tool learning, and Planning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.14192/) (2026)
- [LatentMem: Customizing Latent Memory for Multi-Agent Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.03036/) (2026)
- [MemTX: Transactional Belief Commit for Stateful Agent Memory](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.23929/) (2026)
- [AgentSM: Semantic Memory for Agentic Text-to-SQL](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.15709/) (2026)
- [GateMem: Benchmarking Memory Governance in Multi-Principal Shared-Memory Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.18829/) (2026)
- [Governed Shared Memory for Multi-Agent LLM Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.24535/) (2026)
- [AI Meets Brain: Memory Systems from Cognitive Neuroscience to Autonomous Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.23343/) (2025)
- [SoK: Trust-Authorization Mismatch in LLM Agent Interactions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.06914/) (2025)
- [AgenTRIM: Tool Risk Mitigation for Agentic AI](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.12449/) (2026)
- [Multi-User Large Language Model Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.08567/) (2026)
- [No Attacker Needed: Unintentional Cross-User Contamination in Shared-State LLM Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.01350/) (2026)
- [Self-Evolving Multi-Agent Systems via Decentralized Memory](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.22721/) (2026)
- [State Contamination in Memory-Augmented LLM Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.16746/) (2026)
- [Always-OnAgents:A Survey of Persistent Memory, State, and Governance in LLMAgents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.30306/) (2026)
- [EquiMem: Calibrating Shared Memory in Multi-Agent Debate via Game-Theoretic Equilibrium](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.09278/) (2026)
- [Mitigating Over-Personalization in LLMs via Structured Memory](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.08300/) (2026)
- [Beyond Memory Majority: Latent-Source Reasoning for Multi-Agent Memory Arbitration](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.19701/) (2026)
- [Graph Engineering in the Era of LLM Agents: From Individual Intelligence to System Intelligence](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.21156/) (2026)
- [MURMUR: Using cross-user chatter to break collaborative language agents in groups](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2511.17671/) (2025)
- [Reliable agent engineering should integrate machine-compatible organizational principles](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.07665/) (2025)
- [R4: Retrieval-Augmented Reasoning for Vision-Language Models in 4D Spatio-Temporal Space](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.15940/) (2025)
- [AgenticCyOps: Securing Multi-Agentic AI Integration in Enterprise Cyber Operations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.09134/) (2026)
- [PMAx: An Agentic Framework for AI-Driven Process Mining](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.15351/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Complex tasks are increasingly delegated to ensembles of specialized LLM-based agents that reason, communicate, and coordinate actions-both among themselves and through interactions with external tools, APIs, and databases. While persistent memory has been shown to enhance single-agent performance, most approaches assume a monolithic, single-user context-overlooking the benefits and challenges of knowledge transfer across users under dynamic, asymmetric permissions. We introduce Collaborative Memory, a framework for multi-user, multi-agent environments with asymmetric, time-evolving access controls encoded as bipartite graphs linking users, agents, and resources. Our system maintains two memory tiers: (1) private memory-private fragments visible only to their originating user; and (2) shared memory-selectively shared fragments. Each fragment carries immutable provenance attributes (contributing agents, accessed resources, and timestamps) to support retrospective permission checks. Granular read policies enforce current user-agent-resource constraints and project existing memory fragments into filtered transformed views. Write policies determine fragment retention and sharing, applying context-aware transformations to update the memory. Both policies may be designed conditioned on system, agent, and user-level information. Our framework enables safe, efficient, and interpretable cross-user knowledge sharing, with provable adherence to asymmetric, time-varying policies and full auditability of memory operations.