# Context

> The standing instructions the agent receives with every message — what to put in them, where to edit them and why to keep them short.

Source: https://eggent.ai/docs/context/

**Context** is what the agent always knows without asking: who you are, what this project is, how to answer. It lives in a `context.md` file and is added to every message.

## Where to edit it {#where}

**Settings → Context.** In the top right, pick the orchestrator or a project: each has its own `context.md`. Changes apply from the next message, including in chats that are already open.

You can skip the settings too: ask the agent in chat — "add to the project context that we write plainly and without jargon".

## What goes into the orchestrator's context {#orchestrator}

What should be known in every chat:

- who you are and what you do;
- how you like your answers (short or detailed, lists or prose, which language);
- the project table — which project handles what, so the orchestrator switches into the right one by itself.

The **Business AI system** card fills this context for you.

## What goes into a project's context {#project}

What this job needs and nothing else does:

- the project's goal and who the result is for;
- rules and style: tone of the texts, report format, required sections;
- where things are in the project folder: "samples are in `samples/`, finished work goes to `out/`";
- what must never be done.

Example:

```markdown
# Content for the "Neighbourhood Coffee" channel

We write posts for the Telegram channel of a coffee chain in Austin.
Audience: locals, 25–45.

- Friendly tone, no exclamation marks.
- A post is up to 600 characters and ends with one question to the reader.
- Photos come from `photos/`; finished posts go to `posts/YYYY-MM-DD.md`.
- Never mention prices: they change.
```

## Keep the context short {#keep-short}

The context goes **into every message** of every chat it applies to, and is paid for every time. So:

- write rules and pointers, not the material itself. Not "here is the whole price list" but "the price list is in `price.xlsx`";
- put large reference data into the project as files: the agent reads them when needed;
- let what the agent learns along the way live in [memory](https://eggent.ai/docs/memory.md), not in the context.

## Context, memory and skills: what goes where {#what-where}

| What | Where |
| --- | --- |
| A rule that always applies | Context |
| A fact that may come in handy some day | [Memory](https://eggent.ai/docs/memory.md) |
| Instructions for one kind of work | [Skill](https://eggent.ai/docs/skills.md) |
| A large reference document | A file in the project |