Definition
A strategy in RAG pipelines where a text is divided into overlapping segments to ensure that semantic context is preserved across chunk boundaries. It is also used in agentic memory management to maintain a rolling buffer of the most recent conversation history while discarding older tokens to stay within model context limits.
In RAG, it refers to chunking with overlap; in agents, it refers to a rolling context buffer.
"A spotlight moving across a long scroll, where each new position captures the end of the previous section to ensure no words are cut off in the dark."
Conceptual Overview
A strategy in RAG pipelines where a text is divided into overlapping segments to ensure that semantic context is preserved across chunk boundaries. It is also used in agentic memory management to maintain a rolling buffer of the most recent conversation history while discarding older tokens to stay within model context limits.
Disambiguation
In RAG, it refers to chunking with overlap; in agents, it refers to a rolling context buffer.
Visual Analog
A spotlight moving across a long scroll, where each new position captures the end of the previous section to ensure no words are cut off in the dark.