---
type: blog
created: 2026-05-10
updated: 2026-06-30
status: draft
for: "[[orgs/junaid-foo]]"
about: []
mentions: ["[[projects/prism]]", "[[repos/smolbren]]", "[[blogs/context-development-lifecycle]]", "[[blogs/context-platform-engineering]]"]
merged_from: ["[[blogs/context-development-lifecycle]]", "[[blogs/context-platform-engineering]]"]
derives_from: ["[[Journal/2026, June 01]]", "[[Journal/2026, June 04]]"]
published_url: ""
published_at:
---

# Context engineering

Draft thesis: prompt engineering changes the instruction; context engineering changes the system around the instruction. It is the work of deciding what an AI system knows, when it knows it, where that knowledge came from, how much space it deserves, whether the user is allowed to use it, and whether it actually improved the outcome.
