The question
The loop works. What breaks after 50 tool calls?The answer
Raw files and logs crowd out the goal and current reasoning. Retain the goal, constraints, current diff and recent errors. Summarize old reads and logs. Drop duplicates and dead ends.Source
anthropic.com/engineering — effective-context-engineering — Anthropic calls this “context rot”: as tokens accumulate, models measurably lose the ability to use the full window well. Left number-free on purpose — Anthropic’s writeup doesn’t quantify a single figure; treat it as a documented phenomenon, not a stat.Continue the walkthrough
Seven state stores
Continue to topic 4 of 14.