Lesson 3: Packing every request to a token budget
23 min read·13 Oct 2026
Module 7 · Lesson 3 · About 45 minutes · Needs: Module 2 Lessons 2 and 3 (the context budget, the T-1001 thread); Module 6 Lesson 2 (the five tools)
The situation
It is Monday 13 July 2026, week 7. The assistant now drafts replies, and Ana Duarte's T-1001 thread has reached its eleventh draft. Her newest message asks: "where are we on my original request? Has it been approved?"
Each draft request is assembled by hand, and nobody can say what is in it. Joel wants to know what each part costs; Maya wants to know why a draft forgot what Ana first asked. This lesson builds a context builder: code that packs every request from named sections, each with its own cap, and reports what went in and what was left out.