Failures

Context Confusion

1 min read

Quick Definition

When an agent misinterprets which parts of its context apply to the current task, mixing up instructions or data.

Long contexts with multiple instructions or data sources can confuse agents about what applies when.

Symptoms

  • Following old instructions
  • Mixing up user identities
  • Applying wrong constraints
  • Role confusion

Mitigation

  • Clear context structure
  • Explicit scope markers
  • Context compression
  • Retrieval precision
failurescontextreliability