# Your agents lack context: Here's how to fix "You're absolutely right!" — Brandon Waselnuk, Unblocked

Source: [AI Engineer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcVkq5L-0f0)  
Feed7 permalink: https://feed7.dev/p/your-agents-lack-context-here-s-how-to-fix-you-re-absolutely-right-brand-0pdoj93  
Published: 2026-09-09T14:30:12.000Z  
Trust: Source Linked (source_linked)

## Why Included

In one same-prompt test, a context engine nearly halved agent token use. The design goal is targeted, permission-aware retrieval that resolves conflicts across engineering systems.

## Source Summary

Unblocked ran the same prompt and model with and without its context engine. The unassisted run used **21 million tokens**; the context-backed run used **10.8 million** and reportedly saved **2 hours** of wall-clock time.

## Practical Implication

For larger coding-agent jobs, retrieve organizational context before search and rework compound. Combine semantic retrieval with deterministic queries, rank conflicting sources, personalize by team and repository, and enforce the requester’s permissions.

## Agent-Ready Context

Unblocked ran the same prompt and model with and without its context engine. The unassisted run used **21 million tokens**; the context-backed run used **10.8 million** and reportedly saved **2 hours** of wall-clock time.

For larger coding-agent jobs, retrieve organizational context before search and rework compound. Combine semantic retrieval with deterministic queries, rank conflicting sources, personalize by team and repository, and enforce the requester’s permissions.

These figures come from one vendor-presented task, without enough detail here to generalize the reduction. Curated files can become stale, while an MCP connection alone does not ensure the agent calls the right source or continues searching.

## Connected Context

Feed7 judgment across 732 accumulated Signals:

This adds a vendor-reported efficiency signal to the prior argument that coding agents need organizational context, while narrowing the design requirement beyond simply connecting an MCP server: retrieval must combine semantic and deterministic methods, reconcile conflicting sources, respect permissions, and keep searching when evidence is incomplete. The single-task result does not establish general savings or solve context freshness.

- [How to Generate Mergeable Code with a Context Engine — Peter Werry, Unblocked](https://feed7.dev/p/how-to-generate-mergeable-code-with-a-context-engine-peter-werry-unblock-18x9r65) — Both argue that repository search alone is insufficient; this Signal adds reported token and time savings while reinforcing retrieval of decisions, conventions, and history before planning.
- [Building Agents Is Trivial Now, Context Is the Next Frontier — Jeff Ng, Unblocked](https://feed7.dev/p/building-agents-is-trivial-now-context-is-the-next-frontier-jeff-ng-unbl-073pk7b) — The prior outage example shows why organizational decisions and incidents matter; this Signal specifies conflict ranking, personalization, and permission enforcement as context-engine responsibilities.
- [infiniflow/ragflow](https://feed7.dev/p/ragflow-0b0v2o1) — RAGFlow provides an implementation substrate for mixed-source retrieval and reranking, while this Signal clarifies that having such infrastructure does not ensure correct source selection or persistent search.
- [The Last Human Code Review: Building Trust in AI-Generated Code — Itamar Friedman, Qodo](https://feed7.dev/p/the-last-human-code-review-building-trust-in-ai-generated-code-itamar-fr-1227vc0) — Automated review depends on inspectable team knowledge, and this Signal adds retrieval quality, freshness, and requester permissions as prerequisites for supplying that knowledge efficiently.

## Context Map

- Layer: context
- Domains: coding
- Topics: context-engineering, retrieval, agent-reliability

## Uncertainty

- These figures come from one vendor-presented task, without enough detail here to generalize the reduction. Curated files can become stale, while an MCP connection alone does not ensure the agent calls the right source or continues searching.

## Agent Instruction

Use this item as source-backed context. Do not invent claims beyond the linked source. If this item conflicts with another source, call out the conflict.