MemTool: Optimizing Short-Term Memory Management for Dynamic Tool Calling in LLM Agent Multi-Turn Conversations

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Lumer, Elias, Gulati, Anmol, Subbiah, Vamse Kumar, Basavaraju, Pradeep Honaganahalli, Burke, James A.
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Lumer, Elias
Gulati, Anmol
Subbiah, Vamse Kumar
Basavaraju, Pradeep Honaganahalli
Burke, James A.
author_facet Lumer, Elias
Gulati, Anmol
Subbiah, Vamse Kumar
Basavaraju, Pradeep Honaganahalli
Burke, James A.
contents Large Language Model (LLM) agents have shown significant autonomous capabilities in dynamically searching and incorporating relevant tools or Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers for individual queries. However, fixed context windows limit effectiveness in multi-turn interactions requiring repeated, independent tool usage. We introduce MemTool, a short-term memory framework enabling LLM agents to dynamically manage tools or MCP server contexts across multi-turn conversations. MemTool offers three agentic architectures: 1) Autonomous Agent Mode, granting full tool management autonomy, 2) Workflow Mode, providing deterministic control without autonomy, and 3) Hybrid Mode, combining autonomous and deterministic control. Evaluating each MemTool mode across 13+ LLMs on the ScaleMCP benchmark, we conducted experiments over 100 consecutive user interactions, measuring tool removal ratios (short-term memory efficiency) and task completion accuracy. In Autonomous Agent Mode, reasoning LLMs achieve high tool-removal efficiency (90-94% over a 3-window average), while medium-sized models exhibit significantly lower efficiency (0-60%). Workflow and Hybrid modes consistently manage tool removal effectively, whereas Autonomous and Hybrid modes excel at task completion. We present trade-offs and recommendations for each MemTool mode based on task accuracy, agency, and model capabilities.
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id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_21428
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle MemTool: Optimizing Short-Term Memory Management for Dynamic Tool Calling in LLM Agent Multi-Turn Conversations
Lumer, Elias
Gulati, Anmol
Subbiah, Vamse Kumar
Basavaraju, Pradeep Honaganahalli
Burke, James A.
Computation and Language
Large Language Model (LLM) agents have shown significant autonomous capabilities in dynamically searching and incorporating relevant tools or Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers for individual queries. However, fixed context windows limit effectiveness in multi-turn interactions requiring repeated, independent tool usage. We introduce MemTool, a short-term memory framework enabling LLM agents to dynamically manage tools or MCP server contexts across multi-turn conversations. MemTool offers three agentic architectures: 1) Autonomous Agent Mode, granting full tool management autonomy, 2) Workflow Mode, providing deterministic control without autonomy, and 3) Hybrid Mode, combining autonomous and deterministic control. Evaluating each MemTool mode across 13+ LLMs on the ScaleMCP benchmark, we conducted experiments over 100 consecutive user interactions, measuring tool removal ratios (short-term memory efficiency) and task completion accuracy. In Autonomous Agent Mode, reasoning LLMs achieve high tool-removal efficiency (90-94% over a 3-window average), while medium-sized models exhibit significantly lower efficiency (0-60%). Workflow and Hybrid modes consistently manage tool removal effectively, whereas Autonomous and Hybrid modes excel at task completion. We present trade-offs and recommendations for each MemTool mode based on task accuracy, agency, and model capabilities.
title MemTool: Optimizing Short-Term Memory Management for Dynamic Tool Calling in LLM Agent Multi-Turn Conversations
topic Computation and Language
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.21428