context-engineering
Context Engineering
Overview
Feed agents the right information at the right time. Context is the single biggest lever for agent output quality — too little and the agent hallucinates, too much and it loses focus. Context engineering is the practice of deliberately curating what the agent sees, when it sees it, and how it's structured.
When to Use
- Starting a new coding session
- Agent output quality is declining (wrong patterns, hallucinated APIs, ignoring conventions)
- Switching between different parts of a codebase
- Setting up a new project for AI-assisted development
- The agent is not following project conventions
The Context Hierarchy
Structure context from most persistent to most transient:
More from noahacgn/codex-config
exec-plans
Only when explicitly invoked, use an ExecPlan from design to implementation for complex features or significant refactors. Do not use it automatically.
16planning-and-task-breakdown
Breaks work into ordered tasks. Use when you have a spec or clear requirements and need to break work into implementable tasks. Use when a task feels too large to start, when you need to estimate scope, or when parallel work is possible.
7idea-refine
Refines ideas iteratively. Refine ideas through structured divergent and convergent thinking. Use "idea-refine" or "ideate" to trigger.
6api-and-interface-design
Guides stable API and interface design. Use when designing APIs, module boundaries, or any public interface. Use when creating REST or GraphQL endpoints, defining type contracts between modules, or establishing boundaries between frontend and backend.
6ci-cd-and-automation
Automates CI/CD pipeline setup. Use when setting up or modifying build and deployment pipelines. Use when you need to automate quality gates, configure test runners in CI, or establish deployment strategies.
6performance-optimization
Optimizes application performance. Use when performance requirements exist, when you suspect performance regressions, or when Core Web Vitals or load times need improvement. Use when profiling reveals bottlenecks that need fixing.
6