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Core conceptUnder the hood

Context window

The limited space that holds everything Claude is working with right now: your files plus the whole conversation, all measured in tokens.

The context window holds files, the chat, and a reserved reply One bar split into files, the conversation, and space kept for the reply. CONTEXT WINDOW (limited space) Files Conversation Reserved for reply Fill it up and older detail gets squeezed out.

The context window is Claude's working memory. It holds the files you have shared and the whole back-and-forth of the chat, all measured in tokens. It is large, but not endless.

When a long chat fills the window, older parts get squeezed, so detail can slip and answers drift. The fix is simple: keep chats focused, share lean files, and start fresh when you switch topics.

Often confused with: Context. [Context](/glossary#context) is what you put in; the context window is the space that holds it, with a limit.

See it in a lesson: Context and tokens

Related terms

TokenContextChat

Further reading

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