A simple warning sign for when Claude starts losing track

Claude can start missing instructions during a long conversation while still seeming normal. One practical test is to add a deliberately useless rule to the conversation, such as making every reply start with a name. When the conversation becomes too heavy, Claude may drop that small rule before it drops the important ones.

If the name disappears from the start of the reply, the session may already be going bad. A few turns later, the model may start making up APIs that do not exist. Restarting or reloading as soon as that warning sign appears can avoid wasting a lot of time.

The method works because the rule is pointless: Claude tends to protect important instructions longer, while the throwaway rule fails first.