Context Management

Why Context Matters

• Reduces ramp-up time

• Prevents repeated mistakes

• Enables informed decisions

• Facilitates collaboration

Context Types

Project Context

• What the project does

• Why it exists

• Who uses it

• Key constraints

Technical Context

• Architecture decisions (ADRs)

• Technology choices

• Coding conventions

• Known issues

Historical Context

• Why decisions were made

• What was tried before

• Lessons learned

Context Capture

Decision Log

Decision: [Title]

Date: [Date] Context: [Why this came up] Decision: [What was decided] Rationale: [Why this choice] Consequences: [What changed]

Knowledge Base

• README for project overview

• ADRs for architecture

• CONTRIBUTING for development

• CHANGELOG for history

Code Comments

// CONTEXT: This retry logic exists because the external API // has intermittent failures. See incident-123 for details. // We chose exponential backoff after testing showed it // reduces error rate by 80%.

Context Sharing

New Team Member

• Start with README

• Review key ADRs

• Pair on first task

• Introduce to stakeholders

Handoff

• Document current state

• List open questions

• Identify risks

• Warm handoff meeting

Best Practices

• Write it down: Don't rely on memory

• Keep it current: Update as things change

• Make it findable: Organize logically

• Be specific: Include the "why"

• Review regularly: Remove stale info