Glossary · Prompting & context
Context Compression
Reducing the token footprint of source material while attempting to preserve the information required for a later model decision.
Why it matters
Compression can make long tasks fit within budget, but every omitted detail creates a risk that the model loses evidence, constraints, or unresolved state.
In practice
Preserve authoritative facts and identifiers verbatim, summarize redundant history, attach source pointers, and test the compressed context on representative tasks.
Common confusion
Compression is lossy unless it retains the full original. A shorter summary is not automatically an equivalent context.
Related terms
Sources
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