What Is Context Engineering, and Why Does an Agent Need a Backpack?
what context engineering actually means, and why packing an agent's backpack well matters more than writing a clever prompt
Part 1
Part 2
The Context Window as Carrying Capacity, Not Infinite Storage
why a context window behaves like a backpack's finite carrying capacity rather than a bottomless archive
Part 3
Packing for the Job Ahead: Deciding What Actually Belongs in Context
how to decide, task by task, what actually earns a place in an agent's limited context
Part 4
Dead Weight: When Irrelevant Context Slows an Agent Down
how irrelevant information packed into an agent's context actively degrades performance, not just wastes space
Part 5
The Missing Tool: What Happens When Necessary Context Isn't Packed
how missing context causes agents to fail quietly, confidently, and often without any obvious error
Part 6
Retrieval as a Base Camp: Grabbing Supplies Only When the Trail Demands It
why retrieval lets an agent travel light by fetching supplies from a well-stocked base camp exactly when the trail demands them
Part 7
Tool Definitions: The Specific Gear an Agent Is Equipped With
how tool definitions function as an agent's actual gear, and why equipping the wrong kit causes failures that look like reasoning errors
Part 8
System Prompts as the Checklist Taped Inside the Lid
why a system prompt functions like a standing checklist taped inside the pack, quietly shaping every packing decision that follows
Part 9
Memory: What a Traveler Carries in Their Head Across Many Trips
how memory differs from a single trip's context, and why it deserves its own deliberate design
Part 10
Context Compaction: Repacking Mid-Trip to Save Weight
how context compaction trades detail for weight, repacking an agent's working context mid-task rather than letting it overflow
Part 11
Multi-Agent Handoffs: Passing the Backpack to a Teammate Partway Through
what actually needs to transfer when one agent hands a task off to another partway through the route
Part 12
Structuring Context for Reliability, Not Just Relevance
why how context is organized inside the pack matters as much as which items made it in
Part 13
Context Engineering vs. Prompt Engineering: Packing vs. Wording the Note
how context engineering and prompt engineering are related but genuinely distinct disciplines, and why conflating them causes real problems
Part 14
Testing What an Agent Actually Does With What It Was Given
why testing an agent's actual use of context matters more than testing whether the right context was technically included
Part 15
Context Engineering for Long-Running Agent Tasks
how context engineering changes when a task runs for hours or days instead of a single exchange
Part 16
Context Poisoning: When Bad Gear Ends Up in the Pack
how incorrect or manipulated information can enter an agent's context and quietly corrupt everything built on top of it
Part 17
Context Engineering for Multi-Modal Agents: Packing More Than Just Text
how context engineering changes when a backpack has to hold more than just paper — images, audio, and other modalities
Part 18
Building Context Pipelines: Automating the Packing Process
how to turn deliberate context curation into a repeatable, automated pipeline instead of a manual, one-off decision
Part 19
Common Context Engineering Failures (and Trips That Went Wrong for It)
a field guide to the most common context engineering failure patterns, and the packing mistakes they map to
Part 20
The Future of Context Engineering: Agents That Pack Their Own Bags
where context engineering is headed as agents take on more of the packing decisions themselves