# Context strategies

> Choose whether a node keeps, resets or summarizes the conversation history on entry.

Source: https://polvallverdu.github.io/pipedog/docs/flows/context-strategies/



When the conversation enters a node, its **context strategy** decides what the LLM remembers.

| Strategy                             | Effect                                                                                                                                                       |
| ------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `ContextStrategy.APPEND`             | Keep the history and add the node's messages. The default.                                                                                                   |
| `ContextStrategy.RESET`              | Drop the history; the LLM sees only the new node's messages (and the role message).                                                                          |
| `ContextStrategy.RESET_WITH_SUMMARY` | Reset, but include an LLM-written summary of the earlier conversation. Needs a `summaryPrompt`. Deprecated upstream: it still works and logs a warning once. |

Set one on a node, or give the `FlowManager` a default for nodes that do not:

```ts
const resetNode: NodeConfig = {
  taskMessages: [{ role: "developer", content: "Start the payment step." }],
  // Drop the earlier conversation; keep only this node's messages.
  contextStrategy: new ContextStrategyConfig({ strategy: ContextStrategy.RESET }),
};

const managerWithDefault = new FlowManager({
  worker,
  llm,
  contextAggregator: aggregators,
  // The default for nodes that do not set their own.
  contextStrategy: new ContextStrategyConfig({ strategy: ContextStrategy.APPEND }),
});
```

Reset when an earlier phase no longer matters (and would only cost tokens or confuse the model), such as
moving from small talk to a payment step. Keep the history when the later steps need what the user
said. In a [flow config](https://polvallverdu.github.io/pipedog/docs/flows/flow-configs.md), write `context_strategy: reset` on the node.

State in `flowManager.state` is never reset by a context strategy, so values the conversation
learned stay available to handlers and placeholders.