# Contextual Continuity

Session carry-over: what a viewer watched on one page shapes the next placement they see, so a visit reads as one story rather than unrelated feeds.

Contextual Continuity lets [Maya](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/supervised-intelligence/supervised-intelligence-what-it-does-and-where-to-start#maya-genuin-s-orchestrator) treat a visit as one session, not a string of separate page views. What a viewer watched and did earlier shapes what the next placement ranks first. This continuity lifts per-minute watch time, the engagement metric Maya is measured on.

[Octo](https://begenuin.com/developers/get-started/any-business/octo-operates-your-brand-control-center-octo-proposes-you-approve), Genuin's Supervised Intelligence interface in Brand Control Center (BCC), proposes this capability when it finds a fit on your sites and apps. It completes the steps under Set it up from your brand context. Nothing goes live until you approve it. It's part of [Onsite](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/onsite/onsite-what-it-does-and-where-to-start), and [Personalization and relevance](https://begenuin.com/developers/get-started/any-business/personalization-and-relevance-how-maya-ranks-every-feed) explains the signals Maya ranks every feed on.

## When to use it

It's always on for signed-in viewers. For anonymous viewers, it's on within a property.

| Viewer | How far continuity reaches |
| --- | --- |
| Signed in through auto login | Across pages, past sessions, and devices |
| Anonymous | The current session, within one property |

## How it works

- Session continuity is one of the signals Maya ranks on, after placement context and the group of each video.
- An anonymous viewer has a separate session on each property. Nothing links sessions across properties without a signal you provide.
- With auto login, the session belongs to your signed-in user, so continuity reaches past sessions too. Genuin stores your user ID and the claims you choose, never the password, as [Unified identity](https://begenuin.com/developers/get-started/any-business/unified-identity-auto-login-sso-and-the-id-graph) explains.
- Groups tied to grid contexts give continuity a map to follow. A group with no matching placement context never shows onsite.
- Viewing history stays in a separate channel from identity. The two join only under your agreement and the viewer's consent, as [Privacy and VPPA](https://begenuin.com/developers/get-started/any-business/privacy-and-vppa-the-two-channel-data-flow) describes.

## Set it up

Octo proposes continuity with these steps already done. You review the result and confirm it.

1. Turn on auto login for cross-device continuity. Learn how in [Bring your audience in with auto login and SSO](https://begenuin.com/developers/get-started/any-business/auto-login-sso).
2. Set the repeat window and continuity weight under **Control** > **Feed settings**. Learn how in [Player Controls and Feed Settings](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/control/player-controls-and-feed-settings).
3. Keep groups tied to grid contexts, so continuity has a map to follow. Learn how in [Communities and groups](https://begenuin.com/developers/get-started/any-business/brand-communities-and-groups-structure-content-for-relevance).

## Settings

| Setting | What it controls |
| --- | --- |
| Continuity weight | How strongly earlier viewing shapes the next placement |
| Repeat window | The minimum time before a viewer sees the same video again |
| Cohort use | Which connected cohorts Maya can use on the placement |

Set these per placement under **Control** > **Feed settings**, as [Personalization and relevance](https://begenuin.com/developers/get-started/any-business/personalization-and-relevance-how-maya-ranks-every-feed) describes. Continuity needs no markup on your pages.

## What it reports

**Reports** > **Onsite** shows these measures for each placement. [Measure engagement](https://begenuin.com/developers/get-started/any-business/measure-engagement-watch-time-lift-and-cohorts) explains how lift is counted against a holdout.

- **Continuity lift**: the per-minute watch time lift attributed to continuity.
- **Pages per session**: how many pages a viewer visits in one session.
- **Return rate**: the share of viewers who return within seven days.

To keep a session going while the viewer moves between pages, pair continuity with the [Sticky Mini-Player](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/onsite/sticky-mini-player).

## Connect your systems

Auto login is what carries continuity across sessions and devices. [How Auto Login works](https://begenuin.com/developers/developer-resources/guides/genuin-auto-login) explains how a token from your backend becomes a signed-in member. [Embed the Genuin Web SDK on your website](https://begenuin.com/developers/developer-resources/sdk/how-do-you-embed-and-configure-the-genuin-web-sdk-on-your-website) covers the script, sign-in, and page context.

[Add members to a community](https://begenuin.com/developers/developer-resources/api/add-members-to-a-community-programmatically-api) adds existing accounts from your own systems, and [Update a group and its members](https://begenuin.com/developers/developer-resources/api/add-or-manage-group-members-collaborators-using-api) changes a group's topics and access settings.

The session and feed calls in the [Business Account API](https://begenuin.com/developers/get-started/any-business/business-account-api-provisioning-oauth-and-the-resource-map) are proposed, not live. [Live API today and the Business Account API roadmap](https://begenuin.com/developers/developer-resources/guides/live-api-today-and-the-business-account-api-roadmap) maps what you can call now to what's planned.