Context rot

Model quality drops as the context fills with old, irrelevant or conflicting material.

Long agent sessions collect failed attempts, outdated file versions and logs. The model starts following stale instructions or misses what matters. It shows up as an agent that was sharp an hour ago and is now going in circles.

Share: LinkedIn · X ·

Related terms

Context window: The maximum number of tokens the model can read and write in one request.
Compaction: Replacing the older part of a long conversation with a summary so the agent can keep going.
Subagent: A separate agent run with its own fresh context, started by a main agent for one subtask.

← All terms

Free tools

Business idea validatorTen rubrics, a fixed-rule verdict and three cheap experiments. Free.Software cost estimatorYour project among 125 real products, with honest ranges.Engagement configuratorPick the work and its size, see hours, price and start date.SPF, DKIM and DMARC checkerGrade any domain’s email DNS, with records to paste.BIMI checkerRecord, DMARC, SVG Tiny PS logo and VMC or CMC, with an inbox preview.

Want the fun version? The Corporate-speak Translator has a Polish dictionary of office phrases and what they really mean. Corporate-speak dictionary (Polish) →

Need this built, fixed or reviewed?

I build and rescue products with AI coding agents under rules: AI features in production, honest estimates, email that gets delivered.

Book a free 30-min call See price and start date

How I work

Przemysław Zalewski · 15+ years shipping software

“a true bias for action” client CTO, public LinkedIn recommendation

Confidential by default. NDA is standard. I never show your project, name or screenshots without written consent, which is why this site names no clients without permission.
Your code, your accounts. Code and data stay in your repository and accounts. AI tools run with training on your data turned off, and secrets never reach a model.
A handover you can use. Every project ends with the same checklist: a README that gets it running, one architecture diagram, written decisions, CI, a runbook and a recorded walkthrough. It is done when someone outside the project can run it from the docs.
Boring technology where it counts. I pick a stack you can hire for. Anything experimental needs your yes and an exit plan.
Approach matched to your risk appetite. Prototype, product or regulated: the level decides how much autonomy the agents get and how much review and validation each change needs.
Everything checkable. Every number on my pages links to its source. My tools are free, and the idea validator skill is open source (MIT).

All principles and risk levels →