Context Window

The context window is the amount of text Claude can hold in its working memory at once. Everything you type, everything Claude replies, and any files you attach all count toward this limit.

Think of it as a whiteboard. Claude can see everything written on the whiteboard during your conversation. Once the whiteboard is full, older content starts to fade.

Claude’s context window

Claude’s context window holds around 200,000 tokens. That is roughly 150,000 words, or about a 500-page book. For most practical work, you will never hit this limit.

In one conversation, you can:

Paste in a full product catalog and ask Claude questions about it
Share multiple customer emails and ask for pattern analysis
Include your full context file plus a long brief plus several drafts and still have plenty of space

Why it matters

Claude only knows what is in the current conversation. It does not remember previous conversations. Every new chat starts completely fresh.

If you had a great conversation yesterday where you refined your brand voice with Claude, none of that carries over today. Unless you provide it again.

This is why context files exist.

Projects: persistent context

Claude’s Projects feature solves the memory problem. When you create a Project in Claude, you can add documents, instructions, and a CLAUDE.md context file that Claude reads at the start of every conversation in that project.

At Adam Bike, the Claude Cowork project contains your context file with everything Claude needs to know: the business, the brands you carry, the customer profile, Florien’s role in the showroom, the Dubai market. Every conversation in that project starts with Claude already briefed.

No re-explaining. No copy-pasting your business background every time.

See the Claude Cowork page in Tools for how to set this up.

What happens when a conversation gets long

For most work, nothing. Claude handles long conversations smoothly. If a conversation approaches the limit, Claude will automatically summarize earlier messages to free up space. The conversation continues without interruption.

You will sometimes see a small note saying Claude has condensed part of the conversation. This is normal. It means you are doing a lot of work in one session.

For work that spans multiple sessions — starting a project today, continuing it tomorrow — use Projects. The context in a Project persists between conversations.

Practical tips

Start a new chat for unrelated topics. If you were working on supplier emails and now want to write social content, start fresh. A clean context means Claude is not confused by irrelevant earlier conversation.
Paste relevant documents at the start. If you want Claude to work with a specific price list or product spec, add it at the beginning of the conversation.
In Projects, keep your context file current. If you add a new brand to the showroom, update the context file. Claude will pick it up in the next conversation.