context window exceeded summarising unstructured notes for redaction review in one pass

TL;DR

Fix this in redaction review agent by acting on the exact problem first: review the notes in batches by ticket or by date, save a redaction summary per batch, and assemble the review from those summaries, loading a full note only when its batch summary flags it for a closer look. Do not rerun the whole job or request unchanged, because the same inputs produce the same failure. Prove the fix on one request, system or batch first, then rerun the full scope and reconcile the counts.

context window exceeded summarising unstructured notes in one pass

Use this when

• The operation in redaction review agent fails with this exact message or symptom: context window exceeded summarising unstructured notes in one pass.
• The same failure repeats on retry with unchanged inputs.
• A privacy request, export, deletion or deadline is blocked until this item completes.

Not for this skill when

• The message is an outage notice from the platform. Resolve that first, then return here if this problem remains.
• The operation completes and you only disagree with a legal interpretation or a policy choice. That is a privacy team decision, not this failure.

Steps

1. Reproduce the failure with the smallest scope that still shows it in redaction review agent, and copy the full message plus the request, system or record involved into the run notes. Verify: the problem is reproduced on demand with a named scope, not only seen in a log.
2. Apply the specific fix for this problem: review the notes in batches by ticket or by date, save a redaction summary per batch, and assemble the review from those summaries, loading a full note only when its batch summary flags it for a closer look. Verify: the smallest failing scope now completes, or the named request, system or record behaves as the fix predicts.
3. Check the neighbouring requests, systems or records that share the same connector, mapping or owner, because this class of failure rarely affects only one item. Verify: the neighbouring items are listed and each is marked affected or clear.
4. Rerun the original operation in redaction review agent on the previously failing scope, watching for the same message rather than assuming success from a quiet log. Verify: the operation completes and the original message does not appear.
5. Compare the result counts or status against the source in redaction review agent so a silent partial success is caught before the request is closed. Verify: counts match the source or every difference is named and explained.
6. Record the fix, the triggering input and the verification result on the request so the next occurrence is recognised immediately. Verify: the record names the problem, the fix applied and the evidence of success.

Why it happens

Unstructured notes are the largest part of many requests, and loading all of them at once guarantees overflow before the redaction decisions are made.

Variant phrasings

context window exceeded summarising unstructured notes in one pass

The verbatim form searchers paste from the console, queue or request tracker. Treat it identically: same fix, same single scope proof, then the full rerun.

How to fix - context window exceeded summarising unstructured notes for redaction review in one pass

The how to phrasing for the same failure in redaction review agent. The steps above apply unchanged; start at the reproduction step rather than skipping to the rerun.

redaction review agent troubleshooting for this failure

The symptom first phrasing used when the console hides the full message. Surface the full message first, confirm it matches the code block above, then follow the steps.

Edge cases

• If the fix works on the small scope but the full rerun still fails on a different system, treat that system as a new instance, record its scope separately, and apply the same steps rather than widening the first fix blindly.
• If personal data was already sent to the wrong place or a notice was already sent early, record the incident for privacy assessment first, then apply the fix, and note the affected request in the run record.
• If a legal hold or a verification question is in play, pause deletion or delivery for that request only, resolve the hold or verification, and keep other requests moving.

Compatibility: redaction review agent at current versions, plus the admin console or API the query names; no extra tooling beyond the source system access needed to verify counts.

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_NkdW8YCiSQaQBwcFCNVJ7g