Context window suitcase
Trace a worked example
From goal to measurement to ship-or-abort for context window on the contract-review assistant.
1Learn the idea
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Trace
Goal: improve the contract-review assistant using context window without breaking protected slices.
Mechanism reminder for context window: Tokenize inputs; if over limit, truncate/summarize/retrieve selectively; the model attends only to what remains; output tokens also consume the budget.
Baseline and shock: A 32k window with 8k system+tools, 12k retrieved exhibits, 6k history leaves ~6k for the draft—and less if tokenization is heavier than word count suggests.
Tradeoff in play for context window: More evidence can help and can crowd out instructions. Summaries save space and can drop obligations. Long windows raise cost and attention dilution risk.
Ship decision: Pin 2k system tokens, budget 14k exhibits via retrieval, summarize history beyond 4k, abort if obligations pack fails checksum.
Rollback triggers for context window must cite overflow rate, obligation-coverage on long contracts, p95 tokens in, cost per review. If you cannot name a tolerated regression on the contract-review assistant, do not promote the change.
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Make it operational
Keep the context window decision record beside the contract-review assistant code paths that implement it. Future you will not remember why a default exists unless the evidence is linked from the config for context window.
Also pin one numeric memory from this context window chapter: A 32k window with 8k system+tools, 12k retrieved exhibits, 6k history leaves ~6k for the draft—and less if tokenization is heavier than word count suggests. That number is not decoration; it is a template for how claims about context window on the contract-review assistant should look in design docs. Scoped specifically to context window / contract-review assistant / worked-trace.
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Common mix-ups
People confuse context window with neighboring buzzwords when debugging the contract-review assistant. Before changing prompts, ask whether the broken stage was evidence gathering, the context window judgment itself, validation, or the product action. Fixing the wrong stage creates folklore (“we tried context window and it failed”) that blocks the next team on the contract-review assistant. Scoped specifically to context window / contract-review assistant / worked-trace.
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Rehearsal (context-window/worked-trace)
Write a five-line artifact for this page: goal, inputs, check, owner, stop rule. Invent one fluent failure that the check would catch. Keep details specific to context window rather than generic AI advice.
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Rehearsal (context-window/worked-trace)
Write a five-line artifact for this page: goal, inputs, check, owner, stop rule. Invent one fluent failure that the check would catch. Keep details specific to context window rather than generic AI advice.
Read
Rehearsal (context-window/worked-trace)
Write a five-line artifact for this page: goal, inputs, check, owner, stop rule. Invent one fluent failure that the check would catch. Keep details specific to context window rather than generic AI advice.
Read
Chapter close 1
For context window, add acceptance test 1: evidence source, threshold, and signer. Keep it unique to this chapter's scenario.
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Chapter close 2
For context window, add acceptance test 2: evidence source, threshold, and signer. Keep it unique to this chapter's scenario.
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Chapter close 3
For context window, add acceptance test 3: evidence source, threshold, and signer. Keep it unique to this chapter's scenario.
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For context window, add acceptance test 4: evidence source, threshold, and signer. Keep it unique to this chapter's scenario.
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For context window, add acceptance test 5: evidence source, threshold, and signer. Keep it unique to this chapter's scenario.
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For context window, add acceptance test 6: evidence source, threshold, and signer. Keep it unique to this chapter's scenario.
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For context window, add acceptance test 7: evidence source, threshold, and signer. Keep it unique to this chapter's scenario.
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For context window, add acceptance test 8: evidence source, threshold, and signer. Keep it unique to this chapter's scenario.
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For context window, add acceptance test 9: evidence source, threshold, and signer. Keep it unique to this chapter's scenario.
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For context window, add acceptance test 10: evidence source, threshold, and signer. Keep it unique to this chapter's scenario.
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Chapter close 11
For context window, add acceptance test 11: evidence source, threshold, and signer. Keep it unique to this chapter's scenario.
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Chapter close 12
For context window, add acceptance test 12: evidence source, threshold, and signer. Keep it unique to this chapter's scenario.
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Chapter close 13
For context window, add acceptance test 13: evidence source, threshold, and signer. Keep it unique to this chapter's scenario.
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Chapter close 14
For context window, add acceptance test 14: evidence source, threshold, and signer. Keep it unique to this chapter's scenario.
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For context window, add acceptance test 15: evidence source, threshold, and signer. Keep it unique to this chapter's scenario.
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Chapter close 16
For context window, add acceptance test 16: evidence source, threshold, and signer. Keep it unique to this chapter's scenario.
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Chapter close 17
For context window, add acceptance test 17: evidence source, threshold, and signer. Keep it unique to this chapter's scenario.
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Chapter close 18
For context window, add acceptance test 18: evidence source, threshold, and signer. Keep it unique to this chapter's scenario.
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Chapter close 19
For context window, add acceptance test 19: evidence source, threshold, and signer. Keep it unique to this chapter's scenario.
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For context window, add acceptance test 20: evidence source, threshold, and signer. Keep it unique to this chapter's scenario.
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Chapter close 21
For context window, add acceptance test 21: evidence source, threshold, and signer. Keep it unique to this chapter's scenario.
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For context window, add acceptance test 22: evidence source, threshold, and signer. Keep it unique to this chapter's scenario.
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For context window, add acceptance test 23: evidence source, threshold, and signer. Keep it unique to this chapter's scenario.
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For context window, add acceptance test 24: evidence source, threshold, and signer. Keep it unique to this chapter's scenario.
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For context window, add acceptance test 25: evidence source, threshold, and signer. Keep it unique to this chapter's scenario.
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For context window, add acceptance test 26: evidence source, threshold, and signer. Keep it unique to this chapter's scenario.
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Chapter close 27
For context window, add acceptance test 27: evidence source, threshold, and signer. Keep it unique to this chapter's scenario.
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For context window, add acceptance test 28: evidence source, threshold, and signer. Keep it unique to this chapter's scenario.
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For context window, add acceptance test 29: evidence source, threshold, and signer. Keep it unique to this chapter's scenario.
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Chapter close 30
For context window, add acceptance test 30: evidence source, threshold, and signer. Keep it unique to this chapter's scenario.
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Chapter close 31
For context window, add acceptance test 31: evidence source, threshold, and signer. Keep it unique to this chapter's scenario.
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Chapter close 32
For context window, add acceptance test 32: evidence source, threshold, and signer. Keep it unique to this chapter's scenario.
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Chapter close 33
For context window, add acceptance test 33: evidence source, threshold, and signer. Keep it unique to this chapter's scenario.
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Chapter close 34
For context window, add acceptance test 34: evidence source, threshold, and signer. Keep it unique to this chapter's scenario.
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Chapter close 35
For context window, add acceptance test 35: evidence source, threshold, and signer. Keep it unique to this chapter's scenario.
Go deeper
Before you start
Why this matters
List the constraints (latency, cost, privacy, review capacity) that any context window change must respect for the contract-review assistant.
In the wild
See how this idea shows up as a product and a company — then come back to the lesson. Skills transfer across vendors.
Related lessons
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