Context is a Per-Feature Budget
Context is a Per-Feature Budget is the operational principle that treats an LLM’s context window not as a persistent workspace, but as a finite, depleting resource allocated to a single unit of work (e.g., a feature, a bug fix, or a distinct task). The Core Concept Long-running chat sessions suffer from Context Decay. As a conversation grows, the model’s adherence to initial system instructions, quality bars, and specific constraints degrades. The model becomes “forgetful” or “lazy,” often silently dropping requirements (measured at ~40% drop rate in some experiments). ...