How do I handle multi-turn conversations with a model via Bedrock — do I need to manually maintain and send the conversation context with each request?

Yes, when working with multi-turn conversations in AWS Bedrock, you need to manually manage and send the conversation history with each request. Bedrock’s API is stateless, meaning it doesn’t retain context between requests. To maintain a coherent dialogue, your application must track the entire message exchange and include it in each API call. This approach ensures the model has the necessary context to generate relevant responses, similar to how you’d handle conversations with models like ChatGPT via their APIs.

For example, if you’re using Anthropic’s Claude model through Bedrock, you’d structure each API request to include a list of messages. Each message has a role (e.g., “user” or “assistant”) and content (the actual text). Suppose a user asks, “What’s the capital of France?” and the model replies “Paris.” For the next query, "How far is it from London?", you’d send both the initial exchange and the new question in the request. The message list would look like:

messages = [
 {"role": "user", "content": "What’s the capital of France?"},
 {"role": "assistant", "content": "Paris."},
 {"role": "user", "content": "How far is it from London?"}
]

This explicit history allows the model to recognize the context and answer accurately. You’d typically store this list in your application’s memory, a database, or a session store, appending each new interaction before sending the updated list.

Key considerations include managing token limits and cost. Models have maximum context windows (e.g., Claude supports up to 100k tokens), so long conversations may require truncating older messages or summarizing history. You’ll also need error handling for cases where the history exceeds limits. While manual management adds code complexity, it provides control over context. For serverless applications, tools like AWS Step Functions or DynamoDB can help track conversations across invocations. Bedrock’s stateless design keeps infrastructure simple but shifts the responsibility of context management to the developer.