Every conversation with Vincent has a working memory called a context window. The context window contains everything active in your session, including your questions, Vincent's responses, uploaded documents, and selected prompts. Understanding how this works can help you get consistent, high-quality outputs from Vincent, particularly during complex, multi-step research sessions.
Recognise response quality decline
Vincent's context window can handle most legal research sessions without issue. As a conversation grows with questions, documents, and responses, information from earlier in the session becomes less accessible to Vincent, even if it remains visible in Clio Work.
When response quality begins to decline, you may notice:
- Vincent repeating suggestions or analysis already addressed
- Responses that lose track of documents uploaded earlier in the conversation
- Research that becomes less precise as the conversation continues
- Vincent missing a constraint or fact established at the start of the session
This is not an error. It is a natural characteristic of how AI conversation memory works. The fix is straightforward.
Know when to start a new conversation
Starting a new conversation resets Vincent's working memory. Start a new conversation when:
- Moving between matters. Starting fresh ensures Vincent's context is focused on the correct client and matter
- A conversation is long, and Vincent's responses are becoming less precise
- Vincent repeats or contradicts something established earlier in the session
- You want to approach the same question from a different angle without prior conversation influencing the response
Tip: Shorter, focused conversations with Vincent produce better outputs. When moving to a new research question or document, starting a new conversation is faster and more reliable than continuing an existing one.
Get the most out of conversations
The following practices help Vincent maintain accuracy and relevance throughout a session.
- Connect your matter: selecting a matter gives Vincent access to your matter documents and metadata from the start, reducing the need to re-establish context mid-conversation. See Get Started With Clio Work for guidance.
- Be specific early: select your jurisdiction, matter type, and task intent at the opening of the conversation. Vincent is more likely to retain information provided early in the session.
- One task per conversation, where possible: a conversation focused on a single research question or document produces more reliable outputs.
- Upload documents early: documents added at the start of a conversation are more reliably referenced throughout the session.
- Save results before starting a new one: before closing or starting a new conversation, download or save Vincent's outputs to Clio Manage or your computer. See Save and Manage Conversation Results for guidance.
Up Next
- Structure your first conversation: see Start and Guide Conversations in Clio Work to learn how to direct Vincent for maximum accuracy and relevance