Context Engineering
AI Engineer path · lesson 83 of 124Curate a finite context window: watch the budget fill as the loop runs, break down what fills it, apply the select/compress/isolate/persist levers, and avoid context rot.
Key insight
The context window is a finite budget the agent loop spends every turn. Compaction trades old detail for a summary so the agent keeps running coherently; without it, long runs overflow and silently lose their earliest context.
Budget the context window
Sort each item by whether it earns its tokens on every call.
Tap a piece, then tap where it goes — or drag it. Tap the tray to take one back.
Always worth the tokens
Drop items hereCompress or retrieve instead
Drop items hereTest your knowledge
Why can adding more context to the window hurt an agent?
The short version
The context window is a small desk: only so much fits. Context engineering is choosing which papers to lay out, filing old ones into a one-page summary, and keeping the rest in a drawer you reach into on demand — a cluttered desk slows you down, it doesn't help.
Interview Questions
References & Further Reading
Love this visualization?
Sign up to track your progress, earn achievements, use the AI assistant, and access your personal learning dashboard.
100% free • No credit card required