openclaw/docs/concepts/compaction.md
Davendra Patel 2e3e12f38b docs: add pre-rendered diagram PNGs and update AGENTS.md with architecture overview
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Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-01-29 16:02:09 +05:30

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---
summary: "Context window + compaction: how Moltbot keeps sessions under model limits"
read_when:
- You want to understand auto-compaction and /compact
- You are debugging long sessions hitting context limits
---
# Context Window & Compaction
Every model has a **context window** (max tokens it can see). Long-running chats accumulate messages and tool results; once the window is tight, Moltbot **compacts** older history to stay within limits.
![Context Compaction Flow](/images/diagrams/11-compaction.png)
<details>
<summary>Diagram source (Mermaid)</summary>
```mermaid
flowchart TD
A[Session Messages Accumulate] --> B{Near Context Limit?}
B -->|No| C[Continue Normally]
B -->|Yes| D{Memory Flush Enabled?}
D -->|Yes| E[Silent Memory Flush Turn\nWrite durable notes to disk]
D -->|No| F[Skip Flush]
E --> F
F --> G[Auto-Compaction Triggered]
G --> H[Summarize Older Messages]
H --> I[Store Compaction Summary\nin Session JSONL]
I --> J[Keep Recent Messages Intact]
J --> K[Retry Original Request\nwith Compacted Context]
K --> C
```
</details>
## What compaction is
Compaction **summarizes older conversation** into a compact summary entry and keeps recent messages intact. The summary is stored in the session history, so future requests use:
- The compaction summary
- Recent messages after the compaction point
Compaction **persists** in the sessions JSONL history.
## Configuration
See [Compaction config & modes](/concepts/compaction) for the `agents.defaults.compaction` settings.
## Auto-compaction (default on)
When a session nears or exceeds the models context window, Moltbot triggers auto-compaction and may retry the original request using the compacted context.
Youll see:
- `🧹 Auto-compaction complete` in verbose mode
- `/status` showing `🧹 Compactions: <count>`
Before compaction, Moltbot can run a **silent memory flush** turn to store
durable notes to disk. See [Memory](/concepts/memory) for details and config.
## Manual compaction
Use `/compact` (optionally with instructions) to force a compaction pass:
```
/compact Focus on decisions and open questions
```
## Context window source
Context window is model-specific. Moltbot uses the model definition from the configured provider catalog to determine limits.
## Compaction vs pruning
- **Compaction**: summarises and **persists** in JSONL.
- **Session pruning**: trims old **tool results** only, **in-memory**, per request.
See [/concepts/session-pruning](/concepts/session-pruning) for pruning details.
## Tips
- Use `/compact` when sessions feel stale or context is bloated.
- Large tool outputs are already truncated; pruning can further reduce tool-result buildup.
- If you need a fresh slate, `/new` or `/reset` starts a new session id.