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The State Machine Nobody Designed

The State Machine Nobody Designed

Tech Vedanshh
Developer agent harnesses should be viewed as state machines where the context window represents the entire program state.
What: Context engineering involves managing what information is added to a model's context, controlling access, and validating output, as the context window is the primary execution state.
Why it matters: Viewing agents as state machines helps developers understand that components are not just features but active modifiers of the model's total available state.
Original article

Every part of an agent harness adds information to the model's context, controls what information is allowed into that context, or checks the model's output after it is generated. This is just context engineering. Thinking in terms of harnesses makes developers think in terms of adding components. Context is limited, so it's not just about what you can add, but about what's worth keeping as well. The context window is the whole state machine.

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