Context Engineering

matt pocock’s framing: context is the game. AGENTS.md, CONTEXT.md, feedback loops, plan mode — the agent’s performance is bounded by what’s in its context window. “Never run /init” — hand-craft your agent instructions because the defaults are generic and generic context produces generic results.

The artifacts

• AGENTS.md — project-scoped instructions for the agent: layout, toolchain, pitfalls, workflow. Lives at the workspace root. This is the first thing loaded (see agents md spec).
• CONTEXT.md — the domain model: shared vocabulary, entities, relationships. Created lazily by domain modeling workflows. Prevents the agent from reinventing terms.
• ADR directory (docs/adr/) — architecture decision records. Why decisions were made, not just what they are.
• Modular Capabilities — composable skills and bounded tool configurations loaded on demand (see progressive disclosure).
• Visual Specifications — clear, low-noise architectural and workflow diagrams (editorial diagrams and visual explanations) that provide structured multi-hop context without prompt bloat.

The principle

Agents don’t lack intelligence; they lack context. A brilliant agent with a generic context will produce generic code. An average agent with precise context (domain model, conventions, pitfalls, feedback loops) will produce precise code. Invest in context the way you’d invest in infrastructure.

Overlap with Karpathy

andrej karpathy’s llm wiki pattern is the same principle at the knowledge level: compile once, interlink, keep current. This wiki is context engineering in action.

Related

• context budget audit — the measured, instrumented practice of this principle at the harness layer. llm wiki pattern, grilling doctrine, idea to ship flow, error analysis and evals, hamel husain, progressive disclosure.