Combining the 6 Types: The 4 Stages (Write, Read, Compress, Isolate)
~13 min read
The book's 4 operational stages — Writing, Reading, Compressing, Isolating context — are the mechanism for actually assembling the 6 context types into a working agent pipeline.
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Key points
- •The 6 context types are the WHAT (categories of information an agent needs); the 4 stages are the HOW (operations that move information into and out of the live context window)
- •Writing saves context outside the window (to long-term memory, short-term memory, or a state object) — this is what populates the Memory context type
- •Reading pulls context INTO the window from a tool, memory, or knowledge base — this is what surfaces Knowledge, Memory, and Tool Results when needed
- •Compressing keeps only the tokens needed for the task, using summarization to cut duplicate/redundant retrieved context (like repeated multi-turn tool call info) and control cost
- •Isolating splits context across multiple sub-agents, a sandbox, or a state object — directly connecting context engineering to multi-agent orchestration patterns