The most common context anti-patterns
1. Stuffing: load everything that fits, then complain attention is bad. 2. Reminding: repeat 'be careful' instead of changing operating state. 3. Squashing: collapse history into one giant user message and break role-aware attention. 4. Cache busting: timestamps, unsorted JSON, regenerated schemas before the prefix ends. 5. git add -A: pull unrelated dirty files into 'my commit.' 6. Compaction without checkpoint: lose state because the summary was supposed to magically preserve it. 7. Ignoring authority drift: keep going after the human changes a rule, on the assumption the prior plan still holds.
Catalog over taxonomy
This is not a taxonomy of all possible failure modes. It is a catalog of the seven that show up most in real coding-agent and content-generation work. Memorize them; the next time something feels off, scan the catalog before doing anything else.
Anti-patterns are diagnostic shortcuts
Recognizing the anti-pattern is half the fix. The other half is the discipline rule from the corresponding earlier lesson: stuffing → library strategy; reminding → steering; squashing → role discipline; cache busting → stable prefix; etc.