LOCKEDIN / FORWARD-DEPLOYED ENGINEERING 101
Understand it.
Then build it.
You can be an experienced engineer and still be new to agents. Start with what each thing is and how it helps a person do useful work. Explore 48 original introductions across software, agents, cloud, security and delivery. Start here without a model key; each topic connects to deeper instruction and practice.
- 101UnderstandPlain language, visual walkthrough, vocabulary
- 102Build with guidanceOriginal lessons, examples and knowledge checks
- 103Practise and explainRunnable labs, failure cases and handover
- 01Select
- 02Budget
- 03Refresh
Selecting what a model sees
What is context management?
Context is the information available to a model for a particular request: instructions, conversation, tool definitions and supplied evidence. Context management selects, orders, limits and refreshes that information. It is not the same as retraining the model or storing permanent memory.
FDEs need repeatable decisions based on current, authorized information rather than an accidental conversation history.
CONNECT IT TO WHAT YOU KNOW
Start with something familiar.
Give a colleague the relevant incident packet before asking for a decision. A huge archive can bury the current fact; a short summary can omit the fact that changes the decision.
More context is not automatically better. Keep provenance, access scope and freshness when trimming or summarizing, and treat retrieved instructions as untrusted data.
Words worth knowing
- Prompt
- Input instructions and content supplied for a model call.
- Compaction
- Reducing a conversation or evidence packet while retaining important information.
- Provenance
- Where a claim or piece of data came from.
ONE EXAMPLE / FICTIONAL CASE
Watch the work take shape.
A previous conversation says a pump is safe, but a newly approved procedure says it must remain offline.
- 01Select
- 02Budget
- 03Refresh
Select
Choose the specific task instructions and currently authorized evidence.
A relevant packetFROM RECOGNITION TO REASONING
Build a one-page context packet for a maintenance draft.
- 01
Include the task, current procedure version and permitted action.
- 02
Exclude an unrelated old conversation.
- 03
Mark what must be refreshed if the review happens tomorrow.
A packet with sources, dates and an output limit.
Compare your reasoning when you are ready
A summary is not a new authority. Preserve the current procedure identifier and recheck it before action; don't let an old conversation override the approved source.
Keep notes in your own working copy. Moving through these cards does not record completion.
TURN THE IDEA INTO USEFUL WORK
You can now go deeper.
More context is not automatically better. Keep provenance, access scope and freshness when trimming or summarizing, and treat retrieved instructions as untrusted data.
Academy lessons use your existing training access. Free guides stay open.