# Context Drift

## Definition
A failure mode in LLM interactions where the model gradually loses focus on the original task or context, veering off-topic as the conversation progresses. The LLM "forgets" the original goal and generates responses that may be locally coherent but globally irrelevant.

## Causes
- Long conversations that exceed the model's effective context window
- Cumulative token budget leading to attention dilution
- Poor initial prompt definition
- Model's tendency to follow the most recent instructions over original ones

## Impact on Multi-Agent Systems
- Can propagate errors through agent chains
- Workers in a Hierarchy may drift from Planner's intended tasks
- Debates may veer off the original proposition being evaluated
- Knock-out agents may lose sight of the evaluation criteria

## Mitigation
- Break long tasks into atomic steps (Hierarchy pattern)
- Use explicit task validation at each step
- Keep agent contexts focused and limited
- Reset context periodically rather than accumulating

## Related Concepts
- [[Hallucination]]
- [[Multi-Agent Hierarchy]]
- [[Validator]]