Progressive Summarization Risks
CoreManage conversation context to preserve critical information across long interactions · Difficulty 3/5
Progressive summarization condenses older conversation turns to manage context window usage while preserving essential information. However, summarization is inherently lossy for precise details.
The Problem
Long conversations fill the context window. Simple summarization loses critical details like specific amounts, dates, and commitments made to customers.
Solution: Case Facts Block
Extract transactional facts into a persistent structured block that survives summarization:
[CASE FACTS]
- Customer: John Smith (#12345)
- Order: #ORD-789, placed 2024-01-15
- Discount discussed: 15% loyalty discount
- Commitment: Free expedited shipping offered
[END CASE FACTS]This block is included in every prompt, outside the summarized history.
Why Not Just Better Summarization?
Summarization is inherently lossy. Even with instructions to "preserve all numbers," summarizers condense specifics into vague summaries ("discussed promotional pricing"). Structured extraction is deterministic -- facts either appear in the block or they don't.
Key Takeaways
- ✓Extract critical transactional facts into a persistent block outside summarized history
- ✓Summarization is inherently lossy for precise details like amounts and dates
- ✓Structured extraction is more reliable than improving summarization prompts