HomeCasa What is context in a prompt and how much to give
Context is the information the AI cannot guess. Learn what to include, what to avoid and how to organize documents and data inside a prompt.
Context is all the background information that lets the AI understand your situation: who you are, who the result is for, what data you have and what limitations exist. It is, by far, what improves answer quality the most.
What to include
- Audience: who the result is for and what they already know.
- Goal: what you will use it for.
- Situation: what happened, what was tried, what did not work.
- Data: figures, texts, examples, relevant documents.
- Limitations: budget, deadlines, company rules, available tools.
What to avoid
- Irrelevant information: it distracts the model.
- Sensitive data: passwords, third parties' personal data, confidential information.
- Contradictions: “be very detailed” and “max 50 words” in the same prompt.
Example
No context
Which laptop should I buy?
With context
I need a laptop to edit 4K YouTube videos (Premiere Pro), I travel a lot and my maximum budget is $1,600. I currently use a 2018 laptop that takes ages to export. Compare 3 recommended configurations (CPU, GPU, RAM, screen) and explain which features to prioritize. Do not recommend specific models: I want to know what to look for.
Organizing long context
When you provide documents, emails or data:
- Delimit each block (triple quotes, tags such as
<document>, headings). - Say what each block is: “below, the current contract” or “these are last month's customer comments”.
- State the question or task clearly, ideally after the documents.
Persistent context
Many tools let you save fixed context (custom instructions, projects, memory). Use it for information you always repeat and keep the prompt for what is specific.