Context window

Everything the model sees on each model provider request. Finite, model-specific, and the only surface through which the model perceives anything.

Avoid: "memory" — the context window is working state and doesn't persist across sessions. Memory is a separate concept layered on top.

Usage:

"Can I just paste the whole monorepo into the prompt?"

"The context window's 200k tokens — that's maybe a fifth of the repo. Pick the files the task touches, leave the rest behind a tool call."