Context engineering is the new prompt engineering. And it’s becoming the most critical AI skill. Together wit...

Context engineering is the new prompt engineering.

And it’s becoming the most critical AI skill.

Together with @MiqJ  (Product Lead at @OpenAI) we created a comprehensive guide.

Key insights: 🧵👇 

1. What Is Context Engineering

It is the art and science of building systems that fill LLM context window to improve their performance.

Unlike prompt engineering, context engineering is a broader term with many activities that happen also before the prompt is even created. 

2. Types of Context

There are 6 types of context:
- Instructions
- Examples
- Knowledge
- Memory
- Tool results
- Tools 

I prepared two examples you can analyze (GitHub):

- PM Agent: https://github.com/phuryn/examples/blob/main/prompts/context_engineering/experienced_PM_context.json
- Lovable Bug Fixing Agent: https://github.com/phuryn/examples/blob/main/prompts/context_engineering/bug_fixing_agent_context.xml

Before we continue, I recommend his AI Product Management Certification. It’s a 6-week cohort taught by Miqdad Jaffer.

The next session starts on Sep 15, 2025. A special discount for our community: https://bit.ly/aipmcohort 

3. What Is RAG and Where It Fits In

RAG is often labeled a context engineering technique. But RAG is a three-step pipeline:

- Information Retrieval: Pulling data from external sources (e.g. vector DBs, APIs)

- Context Assembly: Structuring and filtering the retrieved data into a prompt

- Generation: Using an LLM (or agent) to generate the output

Context engineering doesn't include generation.

4. Information Retrieval Techniques

You can see a free RAG simulator: https://x.com/PawelHuryn/status/1945182098190401605

5. Context Assembly Techniques

Aim to provide minimal, relevant, and well-structured information.

Good context engineering requires a mix of retrieval and assembly techniques. 

@n8n_io example: 

Find this helpful?

See our full post: https://www.productcompass.pm/p/context-engineering

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