Quick fixes AG-P006
More context is not better context
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Pasting everything you have buries the part that matters. Curate what goes in, and say which part the answer should lean on.
My prompt has become enormous? Here's the quick fix ↓ — the why sits right below it.
Quick fix: More context is not better context
Instead of Paste the entire 40-page document, the email thread, and last year's version, then ask your question.
Try Here is the section that matters (section 4) and the summary table. Answer from these; tell me if you need something they don't cover.
Curate first. Point at what the answer should lean on.
Why this works
Attention is a budget. Everything you paste competes with everything else, and the model weights your question against all of it — so the crucial paragraph in a sea of boilerplate gets sea-of-boilerplate treatment. The inverse of too little context fails just as often, only more quietly: the answer is worse and nobody can say why. The "tell me if you need more" clause removes the fear that drives over-pasting.
When this applies
Your prompt scrolls for pages, most of it "just in case", and you could not say which part the answer should actually rest on.
Template
The relevant material: [the curated part]. Background you can skim if needed: [one link or short note]. Answer from the relevant material; ask if something is missing.
Go deeper
The full budget argument is giving the right context — and the cost of too much, with the mechanics in what a context window is. For very long material, start from the document tools rather than the clipboard.
Improve next
- It only knows what you paste
Paste the thing you are asking about — it cannot see it otherwise.
- One request, five tasks
This may work better as several steps.
Something wrong with this page?
Say what you expected and what you got. That is usually the shortest route to a correction, and it goes on the public issue tracker so the fix is visible.