What is Context Engineering?
TL;DR
The discipline of optimally designing the context (background information) provided to LLMs. An evolution of prompt engineering.
Context Engineering: Definition & Explanation
Context Engineering is the discipline of systematically designing and optimizing the context (background information) provided to LLMs, considered an evolution of prompt engineering. It goes beyond simply crafting prompt wording to encompass the selection and ordering of information retrieved via RAG, structuring tool call results, summarizing and managing conversation history, hierarchical system prompt design, and memory management (distinguishing between short-term and long-term memory). Operating on the premise that context windows are finite, Context Engineering focuses on delivering the most relevant information in the optimal format to the LLM, dramatically improving response quality and consistency.