Long Chats and Automatic Compaction

A model can only keep a limited amount of conversation in mind. So that a chat can go on as long as you need, Cowork compacts it automatically: when the chat gets close to the model's limit, the older part is replaced by a summary, and the latest part is kept in full.

When to use it

When a chat has become very long and you want to keep going in it.

How to use it

What you see

• The status line shows Compacting conversation… while it runs, then Compacted conversation automatically.
• Messages you send meanwhile wait and go out in order when it finishes (New messages wait until compaction finishes.).
• All messages stay visible in the chat. Only what the model reads is shortened.

Compact by hand

Type /compact to compact now, for example before starting a new part of a long task.

If there is too little old history, Cowork says there is nothing to compact yet.

Good to know

• After compaction the AI keeps the summary and recent work, but may lose small details from long ago. If a detail matters, repeat it, or start a new chat for a new topic.
• Clicking Stop during compaction cancels it; nothing is changed.