Context That Actually Helps

Context is not background. Background is the full history of your situation. Context, in the sense of a prompt component, is only the information that changes how the model executes the task. These are different. Every sentence of context competes for the same attention as the task instruction, the role, and the format specification. Irrelevant context dilutes the signal from relevant context. Include only what changes behavior.

1. 1. Identify what changes the output For each piece of context you are considering, ask: if the model did not know this, would the output be meaningfully different? If yes, include it. If no, cut it. This test catches the majority of context bloat.
2. 2. Front-load decision-relevant context Put the most important context early in the context block, not at the end. The model weighs earlier content more heavily. If the audience is a non-technical executive, that changes everything — it should appear in the first sentence of context, not as a parenthetical at the end.
3. 3. Separate context from task Clearly delimit where context ends and the task begins. Use headers or labels: [CONTEXT] and [TASK]. Blending context and task instructions produces outputs that treat context as instructions and instructions as background.
4. 4. Include prior decisions, not prior reasoning If a prior decision constrains the current task, include the decision. Do not include the reasoning that led to it — that is background, not context. "The proposal is structured around a phased implementation because the client requires budget approval by quarter" — only the second clause is context. The first is what you already decided.