Apologies for the cutesy subtitle. In plainer English, the information saved in the .tuc file can make it so that a valid ConTeXt file doesn't compile merely because of what it contained when it was compiled before.
Here is a MIE (minimal illustrative example), on Linux amd64, 2019.01.28 beta: 1. Make the following file: ========== file: testhysteresis.tex =============== \defineblock[foo] \starttext \def\abc{20} \beginfoo Use \abc \endfoo \useblocks[foo] \stoptext ========== stop: testhysteresis.tex =============== 2. Compile it with "context --nonstopmode testhysteresis.tex" (which will work fine). 3. Modify it so that it doesn't define or use \abc (and so that it is still valid): ========== file: testhysteresis.tex =============== \defineblock[foo] \starttext \beginfoo Use \endfoo \useblocks[foo] \stoptext ========== stop: testhysteresis.tex =============== 4. Without deleting testhysteresis.tuc, recompile with "context --nonstopmode testhysteresis.tex". This run fails with the fatal error: tex error > tex error on line 1 in file virtual://block.foo.1: ! Undefined control sequence l.1 Use \abc The cause seems to be that testhysteresis.tuc contains (from the run it step 2 above): utilitydata.structures.blocks.collected={ { ["data"]="Use \\abc", ["index"]=1, ["metadata"]=3, ["references"]={ ["section"]=0, }, }, } 5. Delete testhysteresis.tuc. 6. Now "context --nonstopmode testhysteresis.tex" works fine. One workaround is always to delete the .tuc file before running context. But that approach seems like overkill (although in my scripts that I use for running expeirments with blocks etc., I take this approach), and maybe there is a simpler way. Best, -Sanjoy ___________________________________________________________________________________ If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to the Wiki! maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context webpage : http://www.pragma-ade.nl / http://context.aanhet.net archive : https://bitbucket.org/phg/context-mirror/commits/ wiki : http://contextgarden.net ___________________________________________________________________________________