Context Window Management

One of the most practical agent skills is keeping the active context small enough that the model does not get noisy or forgetful.

What Fills Context Fast

• reading entire directories when only one file matters
• pasting long logs instead of the relevant error slice
• keeping a debugging session alive long after the task changed
• loading tools or MCP servers that are irrelevant to the current work

Fast Tactics

Problem	Better move
Large repo exploration	name the exact files or folders first
Noisy test output	capture only the failing lines or summary
Mixed tasks in one thread	start a fresh session for the new goal
Research plus implementation	isolate research in a subagent

What To Keep Out Of Context

• generated files
• lockfiles unless the task is dependency-related
• raw screenshots when a short description will do
• full build output when only one error matters
• old prompt history that no longer affects the task

Good Default Prompt

Read only these files first:
- src/auth/middleware.ts
- src/routes/admin.ts

Summarize what matters, then propose the smallest fix.

Practical Rule

More context is not automatically better. Curated context usually beats maximal context.