Long contexts reduce round trips but explode cost and latency if used as a dumping ground. Architect selective memory: summarize, retrieve, and pin only decision-critical facts per session.
Executive snapshot
Token Economics: Optimizing for 100k+ Context Windows
Systems & logicToken economics
The move
Vendors push mega-context as a simplification; enterprises still pay per token at peak.
The friction
Stuffing catalogs into one window hides noise and obscures provenance for auditors.
The product verdict
Design hierarchical memory: structured store for truth, window for working hypotheses only.
Field note · Strategic dispatch · /dispatch/token-economics-100k-context-windows