Lesson 3: Keeping a long thread inside its budget
27 min read·13 Oct 2026
Module 2 · Lesson 3 · About 45 minutes · Needs: Module 1 Lesson 1 (the setup cell and the tickets); what a token is (Lesson 1) and what fills the context window (Lesson 2)
The situation
It is Wednesday 17 June 2026, week 3, and Joel has just set the one-cent cap. Maya forwards a thread: Ana Duarte's T-1001, the duplicate charge, has become a conversation. Eleven messages from Ana, ten replies from Lena.
From week 7 the assistant will draft such replies. Maya asks: "For the eleventh reply, what does it send, and will it still know what Ana asked first?" This lesson measures the growth, tries four ways to stay within a budget, and checks which facts survive.