diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index 336112b..f9bf0df 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ DATABASE_URL="file:../dev.db" # SQLite database relative to the ./prisma path
 PLEROMA_INSTANCE_URL="https://instance.tld" # Pleroma instance full URL including scheme
 PLEROMA_INSTANCE_DOMAIN="instance.tld" # used if you want to only want to respond to people from a particular instance
 PLEROMA_ACCOUNT_ID="" # obtained from /api/v1/accounts/{nickname} - used so we don't spam mentions when not directly addressed
+REPLY_WITH_CONTEXT="" # set to true or false whether you want the bot to fetch context or not
 ONLY_WHITELIST="true" # change to "false" if you want to accept prompts from any and all domains - *** USE WITH CAUTION ***
 WHITELISTED_DOMAINS="" # comma separated list of domains you want to allow the bot to accept prompts from (i.e. poa.st,nicecrew.digital,detroitriotcity.com,decayable.ink)
 OLLAMA_URL="http://localhost:11434" # OLLAMA connection URL
diff --git a/src/api.ts b/src/api.ts
index 78359b3..ebcb729 100644
--- a/src/api.ts
+++ b/src/api.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { envConfig, prisma } from "./main.js";
-import { PleromaEmoji, Notification } from "../types.js";
+import { PleromaEmoji, Notification, ContextResponse } from "../types.js";
 
 const getNotifications = async () => {
   const { bearerToken, pleromaInstanceUrl } = envConfig;
@@ -22,6 +22,32 @@ const getNotifications = async () => {
   }
 };
 
+const getStatusContext = async (statusId: string) => {
+  const { bearerToken, pleromaInstanceUrl } = envConfig;
+  try {
+    const response = await fetch(
+      `${pleromaInstanceUrl}/api/v1/statuses/${statusId}/context`,
+      {
+        method: "GET",
+        headers: {
+          Authorization: `Bearer ${bearerToken}`,
+        },
+      }
+    );
+    if (!response.ok) {
+      throw new Error(
+        `Could not get conversation context: ${response.status} - ${response.statusText}`
+      );
+    }
+    const data: ContextResponse = await response.json();
+    return data;
+  } catch (error: unknown) {
+    if (error instanceof Error) {
+      throw new Error(error.message);
+    }
+  }
+};
+
 const getInstanceEmojis = async () => {
   const { bearerToken, pleromaInstanceUrl } = envConfig;
   try {
@@ -72,4 +98,9 @@ const deleteNotification = async (notification: Notification) => {
   }
 };
 
-export { deleteNotification, getInstanceEmojis, getNotifications };
+export {
+  deleteNotification,
+  getInstanceEmojis,
+  getNotifications,
+  getStatusContext,
+};
diff --git a/src/main.ts b/src/main.ts
index aa3ae0b..e150dee 100644
--- a/src/main.ts
+++ b/src/main.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import {
   // OllamaChatResponse,
   OllamaRequest,
   OllamaResponse,
+  PostAncestorsForModel,
 } from "../types.js";
 // import striptags from "striptags";
 import { PrismaClient } from "../generated/prisma/client.js";
@@ -13,13 +14,14 @@ import {
   getInstanceEmojis,
   deleteNotification,
   getNotifications,
+  getStatusContext,
 } from "./api.js";
 import { storeUserData, storePromptData } from "./prisma.js";
 import {
   isFromWhitelistedDomain,
   alreadyRespondedTo,
   recordPendingResponse,
-  trimInputData,
+  // trimInputData,
   selectRandomEmoji,
   shouldContinue,
 } from "./util.js";
@@ -44,6 +46,7 @@ export const envConfig = {
     ? parseInt(process.env.RANDOM_POST_INTERVAL)
     : 3600000,
   botAccountId: process.env.PLEROMA_ACCOUNT_ID,
+  replyWithContext: process.env.REPLY_WITH_CONTEXT === "true" ? true : false,
 };
 
 const ollamaConfig: OllamaConfigOptions = {
@@ -60,8 +63,13 @@ const ollamaConfig: OllamaConfigOptions = {
 const generateOllamaRequest = async (
   notification: Notification
 ): Promise<OllamaResponse | undefined> => {
-  const { whitelistOnly, ollamaModel, ollamaSystemPrompt, ollamaUrl } =
-    envConfig;
+  const {
+    whitelistOnly,
+    ollamaModel,
+    ollamaSystemPrompt,
+    ollamaUrl,
+    replyWithContext,
+  } = envConfig;
   try {
     if (shouldContinue(notification)) {
       if (whitelistOnly && !isFromWhitelistedDomain(notification)) {
@@ -73,12 +81,30 @@ const generateOllamaRequest = async (
       }
       await recordPendingResponse(notification);
       await storeUserData(notification);
+      let conversationHistory: PostAncestorsForModel[] = [];
+      if (replyWithContext) {
+        const contextPosts = await getStatusContext(notification.status.id);
+        if (!contextPosts?.ancestors || !contextPosts) {
+          throw new Error(`Unable to obtain post context ancestors.`);
+        }
+        conversationHistory = contextPosts.ancestors.map((ancestor) => {
+          const mentions = ancestor.mentions.map((mention) => mention.acct);
+          return {
+            account_fqn: ancestor.account.fqn,
+            mentions,
+            plaintext_content: ancestor.pleroma.content["text/plain"],
+          };
+        });
+        // console.log(conversationHistory);
+      }
+      const oneOffPrompt = `${notification.status.account.fqn} says: ${notification.status.pleroma.content["text/plain"]}\n[/INST]`;
+      const contextPrompt = `<<SYS>>[INST]\n${ollamaSystemPrompt}\nHere is the previous conversation context in JSON format:\n${JSON.stringify(
+        conversationHistory
+      )}\nAssume the {account_fqn} key is the user who posted the {plaintext_content} to the users in {mentions}\nReply as if you are a party to the conversation. If you see '@nice-ai' or 'nice-ai' in the {mentions}, you are an addressee of the conversation.\nAppend the '@' sign to each username at the beginning when addressing users.<</SYS>>`;
       const ollamaRequestBody: OllamaRequest = {
         model: ollamaModel,
-        prompt: `${notification.status.account.fqn} says: ${trimInputData(
-          notification.status.content
-        )}`,
-        system: ollamaSystemPrompt,
+        prompt: oneOffPrompt,
+        system: replyWithContext ? contextPrompt : ollamaSystemPrompt,
         stream: false,
         options: ollamaConfig,
       };
@@ -87,6 +113,7 @@ const generateOllamaRequest = async (
         body: JSON.stringify(ollamaRequestBody),
       });
       const ollamaResponse: OllamaResponse = await response.json();
+
       await storePromptData(notification, ollamaResponse);
       return ollamaResponse;
     }
diff --git a/src/util.ts b/src/util.ts
index 90078cb..921b8d0 100644
--- a/src/util.ts
+++ b/src/util.ts
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ const shouldContinue = (notification: Notification) => {
     const { botAccountId } = envConfig;
     const statusContent = trimInputData(notification.status.content);
     if (
-      notification.status.visibility !== "private" &&
+      // notification.status.visibility !== "private" &&
       !notification.account.bot &&
       notification.type === "mention"
     ) {
diff --git a/types.d.ts b/types.d.ts
index 4ea03fb..ec24e1f 100644
--- a/types.d.ts
+++ b/types.d.ts
@@ -7,8 +7,38 @@ export interface Notification {
 }
 
 export interface ContextResponse {
-  ancestors: Notification[];
-  descendents: Notification[];
+  ancestors: ContextObject[];
+  descendents: ContextObject[];
+}
+
+export interface PostAncestorsForModel {
+  account_fqn: string;
+  mentions: string[];
+  plaintext_content: string;
+}
+
+interface ContextAccountObject {
+  acct: string;
+  avatar: string;
+  bot: boolean;
+  display_name: string;
+  followers_count: number;
+  following_count: number;
+  fqn: string;
+  id: string;
+}
+
+export interface ContextObject {
+  content: string;
+  id: string;
+  in_reply_to_account_id: string | null;
+  in_reply_to_id: string | null;
+  media_attachments: string[];
+  mentions: Mention[];
+  pleroma: PleromaObjectInResponse;
+  visibility: "public" | "private" | "unlisted";
+  uri: string;
+  account: ContextAccountObject;
 }
 
 export interface NewStatusBody {