> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.sovara-labs.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# What are lessons?
> Define lessons and how they shape agent behavior.
A lesson is reusable guidance that should influence future agent behavior. In
Sovara, lessons are stored in the lesson library and retrieved when they are relevant to a
new run.
Good lessons are not long notes, raw traces, or generic reminders. They are
compact pieces of domain knowledge with a clear trigger.
## Anatomy of a lesson
A lesson has three important parts:
* **Title**: a short name for the lesson
* **Use this when**: the retrieval trigger that describes when the lesson should apply
* **Content**: the instruction or domain rule the agent should follow
For example:
```md theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"github-dark"}}
Title:
Quick ratio below 1.0 needs liquidity-context review
Use this when:
The task asks whether a company has healthy liquidity based on current assets,
current liabilities, or quick ratio.
Content:
When a quick ratio is below 1.0, do not conclude that liquidity is healthy from
positive management language alone. Check whether the company has offsetting
evidence such as strong operating cash flow, available credit facilities, or
temporary working-capital effects. If no offsetting evidence is present, treat
the sub-1.0 ratio as a liquidity concern.
```
That lesson is specific enough to retrieve for liquidity analysis, but it does
not overstep. It does not say every company with a quick ratio below `1.0` is in
trouble. It tells the agent what extra judgment is required.
## Lessons are behavioral memory
Lessons are most useful when they capture reviewed knowledge:
* A failure the team wants to prevent
* A domain distinction the agent did not know
* A policy that should be applied consistently
* A recurring edge case that should not be rediscovered from scratch
They turn review work into reusable context. Instead of relying on the agent to
learn the same lesson again, Sovara can retrieve the lesson when the next
relevant step appears.
Next, see how to create and maintain lessons in [Creating and managing
lessons](/sovaradb/creating-managing-lessons).