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Updated
Version
v1.1
Sources
3 sources
Status
Published

context · context limit

Context window

The content capacity available to the model to process a request and produce its response, measured in tokens.

Everyday phrases

  • my agent forgets the beginning
  • resume a long conversation

Key difference

It is neither the entire visible history nor persistent memory across sessions.

Example

After compaction, you supply a dated decision and its source again before resuming work.

Counter-example

An exhausted message quota does not prove that the context window is full.

Continue with a guide

Sources

Revision glossary-v1.1:context-window · 2026-09-08

Sourced content digest
sha256:898d7c20a7458a7c2922a43e732c11ef28179a401fcd0e9aa35f80b493fe8f27

Understand → Recognize → Choose → Compare

Pack for your agent

Pre-written instructions to paste into your agent. Copying executes nothing.

Implement correctly

Use Context window deliberately

# Ground Context window in your agent

## Objective
Use “Context window” precisely in code, documentation, and conversations: The content capacity available to the model to process a request and produce its response, measured in tokens.

## Prerequisites
- Inspect how the term is used today in the repository, documentation, and prompts.
- Identify the neighboring notions already named: Token, Prompt.
- Preserve existing correct usages.

## Working definition
The content capacity available to the model to process a request and produce its response, measured in tokens.

## Decisive difference
It is neither the entire visible history nor persistent memory across sessions.

## Example that counts as Context window
After compaction, you supply a dated decision and its source again before resuming work.

## Counter-example
An exhausted message quota does not prove that the context window is full.

## Acceptance criteria
- Every use of the term matches the working definition.
- Edge cases are settled with the decisive difference, not by intuition.
- Neighboring notions (Token, Prompt) are named with their own term.

## Guardrails
- Show the proposed changes before any external action.
- Do not publish, send, delete, pay for, or change remote state without explicit authorization.
- Preserve unrelated changes and stop if the scope becomes ambiguous.

## Output format
- Outcome or verdict.
- Files or actions involved.
- Checks run and observable evidence.
- Remaining blockers or limitations.
  • Requires · The agentic vocabulary already used in the repository and documentation
Why it works
  • The notion is framed by a sourced working definition, not ambient usage.
  • The decisive difference settles edge cases reproducibly.
  • The example and counter-example bound the term on both sides.

Try next

Map the neighboring notions

# Map the neighboring notions

## Objective
Extend the same rigor to the related notions (Token, Prompt) so the project vocabulary stays coherent.

## Checks
- List every neighboring notion used without a definition.
- Apply its documented decisive difference.
- Record the still-ambiguous cases for the next entry.

## Guardrails
- Show the proposed changes before any external action.
- Do not publish, send, delete, pay for, or change remote state without explicit authorization.
- Preserve unrelated changes and stop if the scope becomes ambiguous.

## Output format
- Outcome or verdict.
- Files or actions involved.
- Checks run and observable evidence.
- Remaining blockers or limitations.

sha256:16e316001e46958f3564f220599dcc41f3a89b4c542c9a46a2ab19ba89b213eb

Diagnose a problem

Fix a Context window mix-up

# Fix a mix-up around Context window

## Observed symptom
[DESCRIBE THE SYMPTOM HERE]

## Observable checks
- Compare the disputed usage with the working definition: The content capacity available to the model to process a request and produce its response, measured in tokens.
- Apply the decisive difference: It is neither the entire visible history nor persistent memory across sessions.
- Confront the case with the documented counter-example: An exhausted message quota does not prove that the context window is full.

## Possible causes
- The term is used for a neighboring notion (Token, Prompt).
- The observed form (interface, script, service) is confused with the actual behavior.
- An alias (context, context limit) carries a different meaning in the project.

## Bounded fixes
- Rename or reclassify only the usages that contradict the working definition.
- Document each choice by citing the decisive difference.

## Final verification
- Reread every corrected occurrence against the documented example and counter-example.

## Guardrails
- Show the proposed changes before any external action.
- Do not publish, send, delete, pay for, or change remote state without explicit authorization.
- Preserve unrelated changes and stop if the scope becomes ambiguous.

## Output format
- Outcome or verdict.
- Files or actions involved.
- Checks run and observable evidence.
- Remaining blockers or limitations.
  • Requires · The agentic vocabulary already used in the repository and documentation
Why it works
  • The diagnosis compares usage with documented criteria instead of an opinion.
  • Fixes stay bounded to genuinely contradictory usages.
  • The final verification runs back through the sourced example and counter-example.

Try next

Anchor the vocabulary in the project

# Anchor the vocabulary in the project

## Objective
Turn the clarification into a reusable rule so the mix-up does not return.

## Checks
- Add the working definition to the project glossary.
- Link every neighboring term to its own entry.
- Check new documents against the decisive difference.

## Guardrails
- Show the proposed changes before any external action.
- Do not publish, send, delete, pay for, or change remote state without explicit authorization.
- Preserve unrelated changes and stop if the scope becomes ambiguous.

## Output format
- Outcome or verdict.
- Files or actions involved.
- Checks run and observable evidence.
- Remaining blockers or limitations.

sha256:74683bc6191baeefa33582ba3ff4fbed1623af497837ebbed7cb4183256e0b61

Full entry, saving and provenance

Pre-written instruction by SkillCodex — your request is neither sent nor used to adapt this text; no content is generated, and copying executes nothing.

Pack digest: sha256:190e2718326ac91edf275a31f414a510bd58b2ba2015eb7201cebf2e4af83afd