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Part IV — AI Studio Deep Dive: Every Knob Matters Eventually/11. Context Management Like a Pro/11.2 Summarize state between iterations
11.2 Summarize state between iterations
Overview and links for this section of the guide.
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Why summaries beat long histories
Long chat histories create three problems:
- Cost: you pay to resend history repeatedly.
- Conflicts: old instructions linger and contradict new ones.
- Attention dilution: the model focuses on the wrong details.
A short, structured summary solves all three.
Summaries are context compression
You are converting messy conversation into a stable state block. This is one of the highest-leverage skills in long projects.
What to summarize (the high-value state)
A useful iteration summary captures:
- Current goal: what you’re working on right now.
- Constraints: runtime, deps, file scope, safety rules.
- Decisions: chosen approach and why.
- Current architecture: brief file/module map.
- Acceptance criteria: tests/examples that define “done.”
- Status: what’s done, what’s next, what’s blocked.
- Known issues: remaining failures/errors and how to reproduce them.
When to summarize (cadence)
Good times to summarize:
- after a ship point (tests pass + commit),
- before a refactor,
- after a long debugging session,
- when switching models,
- when the conversation feels “drifty.”
Summarize when you feel confused
Confusion is a signal that context is bloated or contradictory. Summaries restore clarity.
Copy-paste summary templates
Template: project state summary
STATE SUMMARY (authoritative)
Goal:
- [...]
Constraints:
- Runtime: [...]
- Dependencies: [...]
- File scope: [...]
- Safety/logging: [...]
Architecture (file map):
- module_a: [...]
- module_b: [...]
Acceptance criteria:
- [...]
Current status:
- Done: [...]
- Next: [...]
- Blocked: [...]
Known issues / repro:
- [command] => [error]Template: debugging summary
DEBUG SUMMARY
Bug:
- Expected: ...
- Actual: ...
Repro:
```sh
...
```
Most likely hypotheses:
1) ...
2) ...
Evidence so far:
- ...
Next test to run:
- ...A prompt to generate a good summary
Create an authoritative state summary from this conversation.
Requirements:
- Keep it to 10–20 bullets
- Include: goal, constraints, acceptance criteria, file map, status, known issues
- Highlight any conflicting instructions or unresolved decisions
- Do not propose changes yet