Give the model a filesystem, not a blank chat
A lot of people open a blank chat, paste in context, ask a question, and start over next time. I still do this all the time, but it forces the model to rebuild context from scratch.
Tools with filesystem access can list directories, read files, search across them, and follow links. That works outside code too. Give the model a folder of well-organized information and it can explore it like a map.
For me, the starting point is usually small markdown files with project context, constraints, preferences, examples, and links to other files. There's some art to deciding what goes in them and how they stay current. I don't think there's one perfect way to do it.
Originally posted on X. Lightly edited for reading here.