Context Type Catalog

Version: 1.1.0
Last updated: 2026-07-16

Purpose

Classify context by source, lifecycle, authority, and inclusion trigger so assembly policy remains explicit.

Why

Types are design aids, not a requirement to include every category. Each added source expands cost, privacy exposure, staleness risk, and injection surface.

How

Type	Include when	Required control
Project	Repository norms affect task	Version and scope
Business	Domain rules decide outcome	Authoritative owner
Architecture	Components or flows matter	Current diagram/ADR
Conversation	Prior turn changes intent	Compression and consent
Knowledge	External evidence is needed	Provenance and trust
Memory	Approved durable fact matters	Schema and expiry
User	Preferences or role matter	Minimize and authorize
Task	When a model is asked to perform a task	Acceptance criteria
Code	Implementation evidence needed	Revision and path
Historical	Prior incident informs action	Retention and relevance
Decision	Existing decision constrains work	ADR status
Risk	Threat/control affects task	Control owner
Dependency	Contract/version affects work	Exact version

1. Start with task context.
2. Add a type only when an acceptance criterion requires it.
3. Select authorized sources and preserve provenance.
4. Apply freshness and token budgets.
5. Record why each included source was selected.

When

Use during context-source inventory, retrieval design, prompt review, and incident analysis.

Tradeoffs

Benefit	Cost
Explicit source policy	Catalog maintenance
Better minimization	Potential omissions
Clear ownership	More metadata

Anti-Patterns

• Including all 13 types by default.
• Treating user role text as proof of authorization.
• Storing model-inferred preferences as facts without confirmation.
• Mixing authoritative policy with untrusted knowledge.

Enterprise Considerations

Assign data classification, owner, retention, geographic constraints, and access-control mechanism to every source type. User and memory context require privacy review.

Checklist

• Every included type has a task need
• Source authority and owner are known
• Authorization and freshness are enforced
• Retention and minimization are documented
• Context-selection decisions are observable

Changelog

• 1.1.0 (2026-07-16): Scoped task context inclusion to actual model tasks.
• 1.0.0 (2026-07-16): Initial 13-type context catalog.