context rot

[ KON-tekst rot ]noun

When something you said early in a long session quietly stops counting.

Explanation

Also called context decay. You spot it when the AI breaks a rule you set forty messages ago, with no sign it ever heard it.

Related words

• context window — How much the AI can hold in front of it at one time.
• agent memory — What an AI keeps hold of about you and your project after the current conversation ends.

Prompts that deal with it

• Build Receipt — Make it write down what it actually did
• Cold Handoff — Brief the next session so it does not start over