Why do instructions degrade in long-context LLM conversations, but constraints seem to hold?

Particular_Low_5564

author • 1 mention

r/LocalLLaMA

source • 1 mention

When designing prompts, most approaches focus on adding instructions: – follow this structure – behave like X – include Y, avoid Z This works initially, but tends to degrade as the context grows: – constraints weaken – verbosity increases – responses drift beyond the task This happens even when the original instructions are still inside the context window.

Supported by 1 story

What seems more stable in practice is not adding more instructions, but introducing explicit prohibitions: – no explanations – no extra context – no unsolicited additions These constraints tend to hold behavior more consistently across longer interactions.

Supported by 1 story