Lesson 3.4 · D3 Product & Model Selection · 6 min
Manage context limits and memory
A conversation's context is large but finite; long chats and big uploads can crowd out earlier details.
What the exam tests
Diagnosing why Claude “forgets” earlier decisions or ignores some files, and choosing the fix.
Key ideas
- What uses context
- The conversation history, uploaded files and instructions in that conversation. Other chats and account details don't.
- Symptoms
- Contradicting earlier agreements, repeating rejected ideas, overlooking files uploaded early in a long session.
- Fixes
- Ask for a summary of decisions, verify it, and continue in a new chat that starts from it; move stable reference material into Project knowledge; summarise large sets of files separately, then combine; upload only what's needed.
- Memory is different
- Memory carries personal preferences and context across chats. If it holds something outdated, review and correct it rather than working around it.
- No unlimited context
- No tier reads an unlimited amount of text; switching models doesn't remove the need to manage context.
Common traps
- Deleting earlier messages one by one.
- Restarting without a summary and losing agreed decisions.
- Assuming a bigger model removes context limits.
Remember
Long chat going wrong → verified summary, fresh chat, stable material in a Project.