What happens when you send a message.
THE SEQUENCE
- Your message is added to the conversation history
- The whole conversation, plus any system instructions, is sent to the model
- The model generates a response
- The response is displayed and added to the history
WHAT THIS EXPLAINS
Why the assistant remembers earlier messages within a conversation: they are resent each time.
Why a new conversation knows nothing about the previous one.
Why long conversations eventually lose their beginning: the context limit.
SYSTEM INSTRUCTIONS
Text the operator provides, shaping behaviour: tone, restrictions, purpose.
You do not usually see it, and it influences every response.
WHY THE ASSISTANT SOMETIMES SEEMS TO FORGET
The conversation exceeded the context limit and earlier content was dropped.
Or the model attended to it less because it was buried in the middle.
PRACTICAL ADVICE
Start a fresh conversation for a new topic Restate important constraints if the conversation is long Keep separate tasks in separate conversations
WHAT THE ASSISTANT DOES NOT DO
Learn from your conversation for future users. Your input is context, not training.
