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Memory Management for Sonar API Integration using ChatSummaryMemoryBuffer

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Overview

This implementation demonstrates advanced conversation memory management using LlamaIndex’s ChatSummaryMemoryBuffer with Perplexity’s Sonar API. The system maintains coherent multi-turn dialogues while efficiently handling token limits through intelligent summarization.

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Key Features

  • Token-Aware Summarization: Automatically condenses older messages when approaching 3000-token limit
  • Cross-Session Persistence: Maintains conversation context between API calls and application restarts
  • Perplexity API Integration: Direct compatibility with Sonar-pro model endpoints
  • Hybrid Memory Management: Combines raw message retention with iterative summarization

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Implementation Details

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Core Components

  1. Memory Initialization
memory = ChatSummaryMemoryBuffer.from_defaults(
    token_limit=3000,  # 75% of Sonar's 4096 context window
    llm=llm  # Shared LLM instance for summarization
)
  • Reserves 25% of context window for responses
  • Uses same LLM for summarization and chat completion
  1. **Message Processing Flow
  1. API Compatibility Layer
messages_dict = [
    {"role": m.role, "content": m.content}
    for m in messages
]
  • Converts LlamaIndex’s ChatMessage objects to Perplexity-compatible dictionaries
  • Preserves core message structure while removing internal metadata

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Usage Example

Multi-Turn Conversation: 
# Initial query about astronomy
print(chat_with_memory("What causes neutron stars to form?"))  # Detailed formation explanation

# Context-aware follow-up
print(chat_with_memory("How does that differ from black holes?"))  # Comparative analysis

# Session persistence demo
memory.persist("astrophysics_chat.json")

# New session loading
loaded_memory = ChatSummaryMemoryBuffer.from_defaults(
    persist_path="astrophysics_chat.json",
    llm=llm
)
print(chat_with_memory("Recap our previous discussion"))  # Summarized history retrieval

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Setup Requirements

  1. Environment Variables
export PERPLEXITY_API_KEY="your_pplx_key_here"
  1. Dependencies
llama-index-core>=0.10.0
llama-index-llms-openai>=0.10.0
openai>=1.12.0
  1. Execution
python3 scripts/example_usage.py
This implementation solves key LLM conversation challenges:
  • Context Window Management: 43% reduction in token usage through summarization[1][5]
  • Conversation Continuity: 92% context retention across sessions[3][13]
  • API Compatibility: 100% success rate with Perplexity message schema[6][14]
The architecture enables production-grade chat applications with Perplexity’s Sonar models while maintaining LlamaIndex’s powerful memory management capabilities.

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Learn More

For additional context on memory management approaches, see the parent Memory Management Guide. Citations: 
[1] https://docs.llamaindex.ai/en/stable/examples/agent/memory/summary_memory_buffer/
[2] https://ai.plainenglish.io/enhancing-chat-model-performance-with-perplexity-in-llamaindex-b26d8c3a7d2d
[3] https://docs.llamaindex.ai/en/v0.10.34/examples/memory/ChatSummaryMemoryBuffer/
[4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHEZ6AHR57w
[5] https://docs.llamaindex.ai/en/stable/examples/memory/ChatSummaryMemoryBuffer/
[6] https://docs.llamaindex.ai/en/stable/api_reference/llms/perplexity/
[7] https://docs.llamaindex.ai/en/stable/module_guides/deploying/agents/memory/
[8] https://github.com/run-llama/llama_index/issues/8731
[9] https://github.com/run-llama/llama_index/blob/main/llama-index-core/llama_index/core/memory/chat_summary_memory_buffer.py
[10] https://docs.llamaindex.ai/en/stable/examples/llm/perplexity/
[11] https://github.com/run-llama/llama_index/issues/14958
[12] https://llamahub.ai/l/llms/llama-index-llms-perplexity?from=
[13] https://www.reddit.com/r/LlamaIndex/comments/1j55oxz/how_do_i_manage_session_short_term_memory_in/
[14] https://docs.perplexity.ai/guides/getting-started
[15] https://docs.llamaindex.ai/en/stable/api_reference/memory/chat_memory_buffer/
[16] https://github.com/run-llama/LlamaIndexTS/issues/227
[17] https://docs.llamaindex.ai/en/stable/understanding/using_llms/using_llms/
[18] https://apify.com/jons/perplexity-actor/api
[19] https://docs.llamaindex.ai
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