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Managing Long Session Context

How to avoid context drift in extended Claude Code sessions

A guide to keeping long-running work coherent by using plans, memory correctly, and prompts that resist context sprawl.

Use the right persistence layer

Not every important detail belongs in the same place. Plans track current execution, memory preserves future-useful facts, and sessions preserve transcript history.

Shrink scope before the model has to shrink context

Compaction is necessary, but a good operator reduces drift earlier by narrowing the active problem, resetting sub-goals, and avoiding mixed-purpose prompts.

Re-summarize strategically

When a session gets long, introduce a crisp summary of the current objective, current state, and next verification step. That keeps the assistant aligned even as older detail falls away.

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