Active Context

# Choose how much *the model sees.*

Pick 200K, 500K or 1M once. Each thread stays under it, and older turns move to an archive the agent can search.

[Get started free](https://console.context-mode.com/login) [Read the docs](https://contextmode.ai/docs/active-context)

Near the limit

Under 89% At 89% At the limit

In the thread *your first message* *earlier turns* *old tool output* *recent messages* In the archive *nothing yet*

Below 89% of your limit, nothing moves.

In the thread *your first message* *earlier turns* *pointer to old output* *the last 3 messages, unchanged*

In the archive *old tool output* *long answers*

Old tool output and long answers move out. A short pointer stays.

In the thread *your first message* *the last 8 messages* In the archive *old tool output* *the earliest turns, word for word*

The earliest turns move out in fixed steps, so the cache stays warm.

How it works

## The thread stays in bounds. *Nothing is thrown away.*

1. 01 **Pick a limit** 200K, 500K or 1M, in Settings. It reaches every request within 30 seconds.
2. 02 **At 89%** Old tool output and long answers move to the archive. A pointer stays.
3. 03 **At the limit** The earliest turns move out in fixed steps. The last 8 messages always stay.

Proof

## A bigger limit *costs less.*

Effective input tokens, same 14 turns

100K limit **282,089** 1M limit **145,364**

fewer cache rewrites

Provider refusals near the window, 60-turn thread

Direct **37** Context Mode **1**

cut before refusal

One live pair, 2026-07-29; refusals from a simulated Claude Code thread in our test harness. Read them as the direction, not the size. [Method →](https://contextmode.ai/docs/active-context#choose)

Features

## Long sessions, warm cache.

**No surprise compaction**

Codex, and Claude Code on the 1M window, stay under the point where they compact.

**Your words kept**

Your own messages are never shortened. Text that leaves is in the archive.

**One setting**

Per account, for both agents and every machine.

Use cases: [All-day session](https://contextmode.ai/use-cases/all-day-session)

## Keep the whole session *in reach.*

*npx @context-mode/cli* connects your agents. 1,000 requests free, no card.

[Get started free →](https://console.context-mode.com/login) [Read the docs →](https://contextmode.ai/docs/active-context)