CONTEXT AS THE SCARCE RESOURCE

COMPETING ITEMS AND PRIORITIES When there is not enough space for everything, the harness must prioritize. A helpful way to think about it is to sort every candidate item into one of three decisions. The first decision is include, meaning the item goes into the window in full. The second decision is summarize, meaning the item goes in as a shorter version that keeps the important facts. The third decision is exclude, meaning the item stays out entirely, though it may be stored elsewhere in case it is needed later. How does the harness choose? It asks questions like these. Is this item needed to do the current step? Is this item a rule that must never be forgotten? Is this item likely to be needed again soon? Is this item large relative to the value it provides? Can the same information be fetched again later if needed? A system rule such as "never reveal passwords" scores high on every question, so it is always included. A giant raw log file that is mostly noise scores low on value and high on size, so it is a candidate for summarizing or excluding.