The context window as a budget you allocate: what to spend it on, how to measure what you spent, what to cut first, and where position in the prompt changes the answer.https://context-augmented.com/https://context-augmented.com/blogs/context-budgets-for-multi-turn-conversations/https://context-augmented.com/blogs/context-budgets-for-multi-turn-conversations/History grows every turn until it crowds out everything else. Window policies, structured state extraction, and why agent loops overflow fastest.Sun, 26 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMThistorybudgetinghttps://context-augmented.com/blogs/where-in-the-prompt-things-should-go/https://context-augmented.com/blogs/where-in-the-prompt-things-should-go/Position affects whether the model uses what you put there. A default layout, why instructions get repeated at the end, and what prompt caching constrains.Sun, 26 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTprompt-ordercachinghttps://context-augmented.com/blogs/what-to-cut-first-when-context-overflows/https://context-augmented.com/blogs/what-to-cut-first-when-context-overflows/A cut order for when the budget doesn't balance: which component gives up space first, why history usually loses to retrieval, and how to degrade visibly.Sat, 25 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMToverflowbudgetinghttps://context-augmented.com/blogs/counting-tokens-before-you-spend-them/https://context-augmented.com/blogs/counting-tokens-before-you-spend-them/Why character-count estimates drift, what message formatting adds that you didn't count, and how to build a budget check that fails before the API does.Fri, 24 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTtokensmeasurementhttps://context-augmented.com/blogs/the-context-window-is-a-budget/https://context-augmented.com/blogs/the-context-window-is-a-budget/Five things compete for every request's window, including the answer. How to write the allocation down, and why the output reservation is forgotten.Thu, 23 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTbudgetingtokenshttps://context-augmented.com/blogs/what-deserves-a-permanent-seat-in-the-window/https://context-augmented.com/blogs/what-deserves-a-permanent-seat-in-the-window/Some material is needed on nearly every request. The test for making it a resident line item instead of fetching it, and the cost of getting it wrong.Tue, 21 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTbudgetingcachinghttps://context-augmented.com/blogs/giving-each-agent-its-own-window/https://context-augmented.com/blogs/giving-each-agent-its-own-window/One window shared by a long task overflows. Splitting work across separate windows with a handoff is an allocation strategy, and it has real costs.Mon, 20 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTbudgetinghistoryhttps://context-augmented.com/blogs/how-much-of-your-window-is-earning-its-place/https://context-augmented.com/blogs/how-much-of-your-window-is-earning-its-place/Every component costs tokens on every request. How to find which ones change the answer, using ablation and citation coverage rather than intuition.Fri, 17 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTmeasurementbudgetinghttps://context-augmented.com/blogs/size-the-budget-for-the-tail-not-the-average/https://context-augmented.com/blogs/size-the-budget-for-the-tail-not-the-average/Average requests never overflow. The failures live at p99, where one oversized item or a long conversation breaks a budget built on means.Wed, 15 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMToverflowmeasurementhttps://context-augmented.com/blogs/what-formatting-overhead-costs-you/https://context-augmented.com/blogs/what-formatting-overhead-costs-you/Delimiters, labels and serialisation are paid per item in the prompt. How to price the per-passage wrapper and keep the parts that earn their tokens.Mon, 13 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTtokensbudgetinghttps://context-augmented.com/blogs/rebudgeting-when-you-change-model/https://context-augmented.com/blogs/rebudgeting-when-you-change-model/A budget is model-specific. Token counts, limits, output caps and position behaviour all shift on a swap. The checklist for porting an allocation.Fri, 10 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTtokensmeasurementhttps://context-augmented.com/blogs/fixed-shares-or-priority-order/https://context-augmented.com/blogs/fixed-shares-or-priority-order/Two ways to divide a window: give each component a percentage, or fill in priority order. Where each fails, and why request types need their own profiles.Wed, 08 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTbudgetingoverflowhttps://context-augmented.com/blogs/do-your-few-shot-examples-still-earn-their-space/https://context-augmented.com/blogs/do-your-few-shot-examples-still-earn-their-space/Examples are often the largest block in a system prompt and the least examined. How to run the ablation, and what to do with each outcome.Mon, 06 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTbudgetingmeasurementhttps://context-augmented.com/blogs/when-compaction-collides-with-your-cache/https://context-augmented.com/blogs/when-compaction-collides-with-your-cache/Compacting history rewrites the prompt above what you are appending, so it discards your cached prefix. How to choose thresholds that pay for that.Fri, 03 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTcachinghistoryhttps://context-augmented.com/blogs/designing-a-prompt-prefix-that-stays-stable/https://context-augmented.com/blogs/designing-a-prompt-prefix-that-stays-stable/Prompt caching rewards byte-identical prefixes. What to put in yours, what silently invalidates it, and how caching changes what is worth trimming.Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTcachingprompt-orderhttps://context-augmented.com/blogs/the-output-format-is-a-budget-decision/https://context-augmented.com/blogs/the-output-format-is-a-budget-decision/Verbose response formats spend the window twice — once on the schema, once on the answer. How to price a format and pick a cheaper one.Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTbudgetingtokenshttps://context-augmented.com/blogs/budgeting-for-tokens-you-never-see/https://context-augmented.com/blogs/budgeting-for-tokens-you-never-see/Reasoning traces, retries and discarded drafts consume window and billing without appearing in the answer. How to find them and reserve for them.Sat, 27 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTbudgetingtokenshttps://context-augmented.com/blogs/reserving-room-for-the-answer/https://context-augmented.com/blogs/reserving-room-for-the-answer/Input and output share the window on most models. How to size the output reservation, what an unset cap means, and why truncation looks like success.Thu, 25 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTbudgetingoverflowhttps://context-augmented.com/blogs/auditing-a-system-prompt-nobody-trimmed/https://context-augmented.com/blogs/auditing-a-system-prompt-nobody-trimmed/System prompts grow one patch at a time and nothing is ever removed. How to audit yours by section, delete safely, and keep it from regrowing.Tue, 23 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTbudgetingmeasurementhttps://context-augmented.com/blogs/tool-definitions-are-a-line-item/https://context-augmented.com/blogs/tool-definitions-are-a-line-item/The tool block is paid on every request whether or not a tool is called. How to audit it per tool, what to trim, and what terser schemas cost you.Sat, 20 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTbudgetingtokens