> Markdown twin of https://adna.network/patterns/context-recipe/
> Index: https://adna.network/llms.txt · Full corpus: https://adna.network/llms-full.txt
> State is a build-time snapshot generated 2026-08-30 (UTC); nothing here is live.

# Context Recipe — aDNA Patterns

## Problem

Most real tasks need knowledge from several areas at once — not one clean topic. Without a pre-built list of what to load, an agent either grabs everything "just in case" (wasting tokens) or misses a piece and gets stuck halfway. A federated lattice, for example, needs lattice-design knowledge + federation rules + object standards — three separate topic areas.

## Solution

Define **context recipes** — named, pre-built combinations of subtopics for common task types (§10). Each recipe specifies:

| Field | Purpose |
|-------|---------|
| Recipe name | Descriptive identifier for the task type |
| Subtopic list | Exactly which files to load |
| Token budget | Total cost at each tier |
| When to use | Task conditions that trigger this recipe |

**Three budget tiers**:

| Tier | Budget | Use When |
|------|--------|----------|
| Minimal | <5K tokens | Narrow task, agent already knows the domain |
| Standard | <12K tokens | Typical development session |
| Full | All subtopics | Deep research, comprehensive review |

**How recipes work**:
1. Agent reads the recipe index (`what/context/context_recipes.md`)
2. Matches current task to a recipe by keyword or description
3. Loads the listed subtopics at the appropriate tier
4. Begins work with a predictable, pre-validated context assembly

Recipes prevent two failure modes: **over-loading** (agent loads 30K tokens when 8K would suffice) and **improvisation** (agent guesses which subtopics are relevant and misses critical ones).

**Creating new recipes**: When you find yourself loading the same combination of subtopics for recurring task types, codify it as a recipe. List the subtopics, calculate the token budget, and add it to the index.

## When to Use

- Any task that spans multiple context topics
- When onboarding new agents to recurring task types
- When token budgets are tight and loading must be precise
- Campaign and mission planning (declare the recipe as a context dependency)

## Example: This Vault

The recipe index at `what/context/context_recipes.md` pre-defines assemblies for common tasks in this vault.

Mission files demonstrate recipe-like thinking in their context dependency sections. Look at `mission_m03_advanced_concepts.md` — it lists exactly which context subtopics to load:

```
- context_adna_core_paradigm_overview.md — general grounding
- context_adna_core_context_engineering.md — for context_optimization
- context_adna_core_lattice_design.md — for lattice_composition
- context_adna_core_federation.md — for lattice_composition, open_standard
- context_adna_core_fair_mapping.md — for fair_metadata
```

This is a recipe embedded in a mission: specific subtopics, matched to specific objectives, with a declared budget (~15K tokens). An agent starting M03 doesn't need to figure out which context to load — the mission tells it.

The AGENTS.md at `what/context/adna_core/AGENTS.md` supports recipe design by listing every subtopic with its token estimate and a "Usage by task" table mapping tasks to recommended subtopics. This table is the raw material from which recipes are composed.

## Anti-Pattern

**Loading everything**: Loading all 13 adna_core subtopics (~13K tokens) when a task only needs 2-3 (~2K tokens). The extra 11K tokens dilute focus and consume reasoning budget.

**Improvised assembly**: An agent loading subtopics by intuition rather than recipe, resulting in inconsistent context across sessions working on similar tasks. One session loads federation context; the next forgets it. Quality varies.

**Stale recipes**: Recipes that reference subtopics that have been renamed, split, or removed. Recipes must be maintained alongside the context library.

**Single-topic recipes**: A recipe that loads only one subtopic isn't a recipe — it's just loading a file. Recipes add value when they combine subtopics that non-obviously belong together.

## Related

- [Context Optimization](/learn/concepts/context-optimization) — the design principles that make individual files worth including in recipes
- [Token Selection](/learn/concepts/token-selection) — the broader discipline of loading the right knowledge
- [AGENTS.md Routing](/patterns/agents-md) — the directory-level decisions that recipes build upon
- [Write a Context File](/learn/tutorials/write-a-context-file) — hands-on: author a context file and see the recipe in practice