# Context compaction keeps what matters, cheaply and quickly (`context.compaction`)

Feedback Bench, coding agents, built 2026-10-01, window 2026-08-31 to 2026-09-27. Web page: https://feedbackbench.com/#/criterion/context.compaction

Area: [Instructing and context](https://feedbackbench.com/criteria/context.md)

**Definition.** How automatic or manual compaction summarises history: what it drops, how long it takes, what it costs, and whether it is visible.

**Boundary.** Not this: see [Output degrades as the context window fills](https://feedbackbench.com/criteria/context.long_context_decay.md) for degradation without compaction.

Rated author-weeks, all agents: 899. Complaint share: 67%.

## The brief

Written by Claude Opus 5.5 from 69 labelled posts and the numbers on this page. Interpretation, not measurement: every quote is verbatim and links to its post.

**Compaction mostly works now. What it forgets and costs still stings.**

TL;DR:

- Pi leads, with deterministic, model-free compaction plugins users call fast and cheap.
- Google Antigravity trails. Users report early, untunable compaction that also erases revert points.
- Claude Code and OpenAI Codex are split between praise for long sessions and complaints about slow, costly compacts.

In plain terms: Long sessions survive compaction more often than they used to. The pain is elsewhere. A compact can stall for minutes, burn quota re-reading the whole history, and quietly drop the reason behind a decision. Many users hand off manually instead.

### How it breaks

- **Summaries drop the load-bearing why** ([Context compaction keeps what matters, cheaply and quickly](https://feedbackbench.com/criteria/context.compaction.md)). Compaction keeps what was done and loses why, so the agent later undoes decisions that looked arbitrary.
  Users describe summaries that keep the what and lose the why. A pinned dependency loses its reason, so a later upgrade looks helpful until it breaks the build. Cursor users report rules fading after each summarised conversation until the agent is told to re-read them. Antigravity users shorten their plans because they expect deep detail to vanish. Better summary quality and retention is the top request, spread across Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, Pi and OpenCode.
  Evidence:
  - Complaint, Claude Code, r/ClaudeCode, 2026-09-18: “that split between reasons and decisions is exactly how you end up redoing a change another repo already backed out. and the pinned generator example is the nasty part: once compaction drops the why, an upgrade looks helpful until it breaks the build. keeping the load-bearing reason as a one-line comment at the pin point seems like the right fallback.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wjgbml/what_do_you_lose_when_claude_code_compaction/pajv392/)
  - Complaint, Cursor, r/cursor, 2026-09-13: “<strict_link> the context usage does not show rules anymore... and it keeps going astray and not following the rules until i explicitly ask it to read them again which then works only until next summarized conversation” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/cursor/comments/1wexxoe/cursor_agent_context_has_stopped_taking_rules/)
  - Complaint, Google Antigravity, r/google_antigravity, 2026-09-14: “am i crazy for avoiding long plans because of how often it compacts? i'm worried it'll forget anything deep anyway, so i tend to spoon feed it” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1wft9p8/gemini_cherrypicks_easy_tasks_and_falsely_reports/p9qsmwr/)

- **Slow, costly compacts at the edge** ([Context compaction keeps what matters, cheaply and quickly](https://feedbackbench.com/criteria/context.compaction.md)). Each compact is a full model pass over the whole history, and users feel it in minutes of waiting and quota drained.
  One Claude Code user pulled compaction metadata and found auto-compact keeping about 1.3% of context, taking minutes, then paying full cache-write price on the next turn. Codex users report long compactions with disconnects layered on top. A Pi user saw similar waits on one model. A Claude Code post describes silent compaction loops that end in wasted tokens. Cheaper compaction that uses less quota is the second most common request.
  Evidence:
  - Complaint, OpenAI Codex, r/codex, 2026-09-08: “yeah bro, i’ve had compactions take 15+ minutes before, with reconnects/disconnects on top of it manually compacting earlier used to avoid most of that for me. it seems a bit better lately, but auto-compaction was brutal for a while” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1w7vk5t/anyone_else_having_issues_with_autocompact/p8k7tqr/)
  - Complaint, Claude Code, r/ClaudeCode, 2026-09-24: “the transcript records what a compact actually costs, and it's worse than it looks. mine, from `compactmetadata` in the jsonl: auto-compact fired at 968-983k of context and left 11-15k, so about 1.3% kept, and it took 72-237 seconds each time. that means one request reading ~970k of input to produce a 12k summary, and then the next turn starts on a prefix that isn't in the cache yet, so it pays full write price too. at the end of a window that's the last thing you want to spend the remainder on. the cheap version of what you're describing: drop auto-compact to ~200k so the read is 5x smaller, or stop the session yourself at a handoff note and /clear. both beat one fat compact at 6% left.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1woyc97/why_is_this_acceptable/pbrzjvg/)
  - Complaint, Claude Code, @ClaudeDevs, 2026-09-10: “@grichm77 @claudedevs @arena fable 5.1 compaction loops are brutal — 30 min of silence then wasted tokens. becker hub's meta-orchestrator detects stuck agents mid-loop and restarts them in seconds. i built this.” [source](https://twitter.com/1252868508762771457/status/2098044740574835080)
  - Complaint, Pi, r/PiCodingAgent, 2026-09-18: “awesome mate, was gonna work on this too! flash next was taking 20 minutes to compact, this would make it way more useful” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/PiCodingAgent/comments/1wjv10b/published_piprefixcachecompaction/pamr3xo/)

- **Thresholds fire too early or never** ([Context compaction keeps what matters, cheaply and quickly](https://feedbackbench.com/criteria/context.compaction.md)). Trigger logic misfires in both directions. Some agents compact far below the window, others overshoot and crash.
  Antigravity CLI users say compaction kicks in at a small fraction of the model's window, with no setting to change it. Zed users report compaction failing to trigger at any setting, which ends the run early. Cline users say it blows past the ceiling and crashes unless they trick it with a lower limit. Devin CLI users ask for threshold limits to stop quota drain on small-window models.
  Evidence:
  - Complaint, Google Antigravity, @antigravity, 2026-09-11: “is it that google and team are making @antigravity cli unusable now? compacting at like 40% threshold with no option of tuning this...is a typical thing coming from @google compaction used to take so long in gemini cli and you have options” [source](https://twitter.com/1739979969059586048/status/2098306585571274961)
  - Complaint, Zed, r/ZedEditor, 2026-09-08: “<strict_link> i'm looking for guidance on how to get compaction to work correctly in zed. i am running qwen3.8:27b on an nvidia 5090 and use context set at 110k. but, it often fails to compact even with the trigger set to 60% or even set to -<zip_code> or -<zip_code>. no matter what i try, it fails to compact reliably and often results in the process ending prematurely. wondering if anyone else is running into similar issues and if so, have you solved it or what guidance you might have. some additional context, i'm using 1.18.1. thanks in advance.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ZedEditor/comments/1wb0yeo/local_llm_compaction_issue_guidance/)
  - Complaint, Cline, r/CLine, 2026-09-09: “this is for full stack slices with end to end testing and deployment (havent bothered with a cd pipeline on this yet). so yeah not everything is like that, but 12+ hours is just to indicate this can run a very very long time without blowing out the context ceiling or ending up in a poop loop. this wasnt the case until i accidently tricked it into thinking the ceiling was much lower than it really was so now i am just trying to bake this in and sanity check my observations i was aware of the 80% context thing just not exactly 'how', since admittedly its not doing it well, it blows over the ceiling and crashes the model if i dont do it like this. seems like a shortcoming with cline.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/CLine/comments/1wbdpuy/context_window_management/p8rb88n/)
  - Complaint, Devin, @cognition, 2026-09-07: “@cognition please add compaction threshold limits to devin cli, only been using glm 5.3 flash and usage has been draining like crazy because there's no way to properly auto compact the context windows at lower context <strict_link>” [source](https://twitter.com/1617493632025776131/status/2096847646464090320)

- **Power users hand off instead** ([Context compaction keeps what matters, cheaply and quickly](https://feedbackbench.com/criteria/context.compaction.md)). Experienced users increasingly skip compaction. They have the agent write a handoff note and start a fresh session.
  The pattern repeats across tools. Ask the agent to update docs and write a continuation note, then clear and restart. Antigravity users run one chat per problem with a wrap-up artifact and report far lower token counts. Some Cursor users argue compacting costs quality for no benefit and split work across separate chats. Among Claude Code users, the leading ask is automatic session handoff in place of compaction.
  Evidence:
  - Complaint, Pi, r/PiCodingAgent, 2026-09-27: “i keep it simple. as soon as i notice consistent drop in quality that i might attribute to long context, i instruct a handoff with some directions i deem important. it's probably the best i can do to improve the result without writing handoff myself.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/PiCodingAgent/comments/1wrq50c/new_session_handoff_vs_compact_which_do_you_prefer/pcesvix/)
  - Praise, Claude Code, r/ClaudeCode, 2026-09-24: “people like to think they "stay in control" and so they pretend that you have to be knowledgeable in order to use an agent like claude code properly... that you have to master skills, mcps and so on. in fact, in my opinion, llms are probably better than most at knowing how to achieve what you want! and they also improve very fast. i use a *single* skill: "/handoff", when the current context is becoming full and i want to continue in a new session... it mostly asks the agent to update all the docs, and prepare a text to paste in a new session so a fresh agent can continue, know what to read, etc.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wowilt/i_still_dont_understand_this_agentic_workflow/pbsnvej/)
  - Praise, Google Antigravity, r/google_antigravity, 2026-09-16: “i have a workflow that is explicitly one chat per problem. i start the workflow and say we will /start this problem, read the logs and artifacts from the last agent. do not read any other files except the ones deemed important from the artifact. (simplified) and it keeps ag extremly focused and my token count has been reduced 10x, when im done for the day i send a /wrapup command and the agent overwrites the artifact with updates and logs all the challenges and sucesses for futer use. it also has the byproduct of being able to continue my work on any machine not needing the chat history” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1wh1uyl/whats_your_antigravity_workflow_heres_mine/pa65kij/)
  - Complaint, Cursor, r/cursor, 2026-09-20: “if you're compacting you're costing yourself performance and quality for practically no benefit. break up your work items into smaller components. plan, implement, and review in separate chats.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/cursor/comments/1wlroey/how_many_compactions_before_a_new_chat_with_grok/pb196ki/)

### Who stands out

- **Pi (stronger)**. Pi's plugin ecosystem lets users replace model-written summaries with deterministic compaction, and posts credit it with speed and lower input tokens.
  Plugins like pi-vcc and pi-blackhole compact without calling the model. Users report much faster runs and no noticeable loss in quality. One user who read the code credits its session summaries with cutting input tokens sharply. The weak spots are reliability and guardrails. Posts say compaction sometimes fails, and that unbounded tool responses can overshoot the threshold before it fires. Users still ask for control over what gets kept.
  Evidence:
  - Praise, Pi, r/PiCodingAgent, 2026-09-04: “you can also use it without a model, so the compaction is deterministic, and much much faster.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/PiCodingAgent/comments/1w6yv2j/improve_compaction_with_local_llm/p7qvudh/)
  - Praise, Pi, r/PiCodingAgent, 2026-09-10: “i like pi-vcc <strict_link> it doesn't use your model to compact, it uses a deterministic algorithm. might not be as good asba good llm summarized compaction, but i haven't noticed a loss in performance, anecdotally” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/PiCodingAgent/comments/1wc6v2k/the_autocompaction_is_so_frustrating_and/p8vu8s4/)
  - Praise, Pi, @pidotdev, 2026-09-25: “read some code of @pidotdev . it compacts session summary really well which reduces input token consumption nearly ~50% ( in some cases).” [source](https://twitter.com/1326554840042934273/status/2103624224145617404)
  - Complaint, Pi, @pidotdev, 2026-09-23: “right now, pi agent doesn’t provide any protections against tool response sizes, with that unpredictability it becomes harder to ensure agent reliability; when it’s bounded we can always decide the auto compact threshold so that no possible event can happen to the context window before it can compact, without any bounds the context window can overshoot and then the session kind of becomes extremely difficult to recover because the side effect has already happened. i believe this should be a harness concern, codex does this well” [source](https://twitter.com/941069539/status/2102836607346741599)

- **Google Antigravity (weaker)**. Users report aggressive, fixed compaction thresholds that shrink usable context and wipe out revert points.
  Posts say compaction fires well before the advertised window fills, with no setting to tune it. It compacts often enough that reverting more than a few messages back stops working. Some users shorten plans to avoid it. A minority say the CLI compacts fine and exposes /compact and /context. Requests cluster on a manual compact command, a configurable threshold and a bigger default window.
  Evidence:
  - Complaint, Google Antigravity, r/google_antigravity, 2026-09-20: “i tried it again when 3.8 arrived after a break of 6 months, model is decent, but antigravity itself compacts so much you lose the ability to revert to a previous message if it's more than 3 or 4 back, so still not really great for anything serious imo” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1wllxyb/this_thing_became_a_coding_beast/pb07fjd/)
  - Complaint, Google Antigravity, r/google_antigravity, 2026-09-14: “am i crazy for avoiding long plans because of how often it compacts? i'm worried it'll forget anything deep anyway, so i tend to spoon feed it” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1wft9p8/gemini_cherrypicks_easy_tasks_and_falsely_reports/p9qsmwr/)
  - Complaint, Google Antigravity, @antigravity, 2026-09-05: “@ojeffersondev @nlycskn @antigravity @thtbee_ yes, this is a very serious issue. i have configured statusline in antigravity cli, and the context window only uses 20% to 26% of its capacity before compression kicks in. i don't understand why the model supports 100m context but limits it to 256k.” [source](https://twitter.com/1873219455486181377/status/2096210531682324919)
  - Praise, Google Antigravity, r/google_antigravity, 2026-09-17: “idk what you're using but antigravity cli autocompacts fine at around 200k-250k context and /compact aswell as /context are available” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1wis8pe/soon_2027_still_compact_command/pacs06j/)

- **OpenAI Codex (mixed)**. Codex draws the strongest praise for summary quality and hours-long sessions, but users pay for it in wait time and quota.
  Users say compaction just works and keeps continuous sessions going for hours. The web app's queryable pre-compaction history gets specific credit. One builder calls it the best implementation they have seen. Complaints centre on failures and loops, compaction that triggers too often on default windows, and the quota hit when users raise the window to dodge it. Requests for manual compaction on remote sessions recur.
  Evidence:
  - Praise, OpenAI Codex, r/codex, 2026-09-13: “yeav openai:s compaction is just... it works.. the addition to the web app, where he model can query previous history pre compaction that they added recently makes it even smoother” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1wemr7j/simple_rules_to_stretch_your_usage_limits/p9gl55t/)
  - Praise, OpenAI Codex, r/codex, 2026-09-07: “compaction isn’t really algorithmic. the model rereads the context, keeps some stable parts for caching and recent actions, then rewrites/compresses most of the middle from scratch. that’s why it takes so long it’s often generating like 20k tokens in one go. *source: me trying to build compaction for my own chatbot, realizing it’s insanely hard, and that openai is actually doing the best job in the world at it lol*” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1wa0psb/why_does_compaction_take_forever/p8eli3s/)
  - Complaint, OpenAI Codex, r/codex, 2026-09-17: “just curious, did you increase the context window size? i feel the same about usage, my 200$ usage drains in 1-2 days of heavy usage, mostly 5.6xh. i feel like it's way faster to drain than it used to be. but i recently increase context to 800k because it was compacting waaay to often, i wonder if this basically uses 8x as much usage and i should decrease it again. would be curious if you did the same or you're still on the standard 100k window and it's still draining fast” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1wioij7/feeling_scammed_on_the_200_pro_plan_since_astra/pacoa0c/)
  - Complaint, OpenAI Codex, r/codex, 2026-09-13: “yeah that is pretty tight! hope they add manual compaction to remote soon.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1wemr7j/simple_rules_to_stretch_your_usage_limits/p9hedcs/)

- **Claude Code (mixed)**. Users report Claude Code's compaction got faster and cheaper, yet very large windows turn each compact into a slow, expensive pass.
  Recent posts praise compaction as fast and nearly free. Several users run auto-compact at lower thresholds and get multi-hour sessions without trouble. Critics who measured late compacts warn against firing them near the window limit. Others describe lost reasoning and silent loops. The standout request is automatic session handoff instead of compaction.
  Evidence:
  - Praise, Claude Code, @ClaudeDevs, 2026-09-25: “@claudedevs @bcherny @amorriscode @lydiahallie idk what kind of black magic y'all did with compaction, but it is so fast now and takes like 0 usage. opus 5.5 is such a game changer. very well done!” [source](https://twitter.com/732783174166536192/status/2103635223346864282)
  - Praise, Claude Code, r/ClaudeCode, 2026-09-13: “i just use autocompact, with a lower limit, say 300-400k. it works perfectly for me. i don't understand the hate.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wewoy5/anyone_else_tired_of_maintaining_handoff_markdown/p9hejqi/)
  - Praise, Claude Code, r/ClaudeCode, 2026-09-24: “my sessions with 500k and 90% compact are working 5-9h. without compact its impossible. compact is fine. manually its easier to copy-paste to another chat.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wp6nq9/do_you_guys_use_auto_compact/pbua54a/)
  - Praise, Claude Code, r/ClaudeCode, 2026-09-21: “this is very personal and will depend on what you use it for. without any more context i would suggest most ppl set it at 250k which is a good default where it can finish many tasks without compacting but will compact on the long running tasks to keep costs lower. if 150k feels right that's even better and will be cheaper overall. quality is better without compacting but not worth paying the delta imo. compacting has improved a lot in the past year where i think auto compact on makes sense to use now, i used to hand over before” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wmdy4i/what_should_my_auto_compact_setting_be_set_at/pb68fye/)

### Fine print

- Most agents have too few posts here to rank. Signals for Cursor, Amp, Cline, Zed and others are anecdotal.
- Many posts blend model behaviour with harness behaviour, so compaction quality here reflects both.

## Top requests

What users ask to add or change, most asked first. 208 author-weeks ask for something. Requests do not change the Feedback Score. Rule: A separate pass by Claude Sonnet 5 reads every counted post and extracts what the author asks the agent or its vendor to add or change, with the criteria it maps to and a short normalised wording; it does not touch the labels or the Feedback Score. Claude Opus 5.5 groups the wordings within each criterion (the first criterion the request maps to) into themes; code counts them. A theme counts distinct author-weeks that ask for it, per agent; across agents, one author-week per agent. Themes asked in fewer than 2 author-weeks, and requests that share no theme, are not shown. Examples: up to 3 posts per theme from different authors, without slurs, preferring posts of 60 to 450 characters, most recent first.

| Rank | Request | Author-weeks | Posts | Agents (author-weeks) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Better compaction summary quality and retention | 27 | 27 | Claude Code 8, OpenAI Codex 6, Pi 6, OpenCode 5, Google Antigravity 2 |
| 2 | Cheaper compaction using less quota | 17 | 17 | Claude Code 7, OpenAI Codex 7, OpenCode 2, Cursor 1 |
| 3 | Manual compact command availability | 15 | 15 | Google Antigravity 5, OpenAI Codex 3, Amp 2, Claude Code 2, Cline 1, Devin 1, OpenCode 1 |
| 4 | Fix compaction failures, loops and crashes | 14 | 15 | OpenAI Codex 6, Claude Code 2, OpenCode 2, Google Antigravity 1, Cursor 1, Pi 1, Warp 1 |
| 5 | Higher default context before compaction | 13 | 14 | OpenAI Codex 6, Google Antigravity 4, Claude Code 1, OpenCode 1, Pi 1 |
| 6 | Automatic session handoff instead of compaction | 13 | 13 | Claude Code 10, Google Antigravity 1, OpenAI Codex 1, Pi 1 |
| 7 | Configurable auto-compaction threshold | 11 | 11 | Google Antigravity 4, OpenAI Codex 2, Claude Code 1, Cline 1, Devin 1, Pi 1, Zed 1 |
| 8 | Automatic compaction enabled by default | 9 | 9 | Claude Code 5, Google Antigravity 1, OpenAI Codex 1, OpenCode 1, Pi 1 |
| 9 | Selective pruning of stale tool results | 8 | 8 | OpenAI Codex 3, Claude Code 2, Cursor 2, Amp 1 |
| 10 | User control over what compaction keeps | 8 | 8 | Pi 3, Claude Code 2, Cursor 2, OpenAI Codex 1 |
| 11 | User control over when compaction triggers | 8 | 8 | Claude Code 4, OpenAI Codex 3, Google Antigravity 1 |
| 12 | Session checkpoint before limits or compaction | 7 | 7 | OpenAI Codex 4, Claude Code 2, Google Antigravity 1 |

### 1. Better compaction summary quality and retention

- Pi, 2026-09-27, r/PiCodingAgent (Reddit): “curious as well. i've been reading good things about codex compaction enhancements recently. would be nice to port some of that over to pi if possible.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/PiCodingAgent/comments/1wrq50c/new_session_handoff_vs_compact_which_do_you_prefer/pcettr9/)
- Claude Code, 2026-09-25, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “i don't want any information loss that comes with compacting. anthropic's best practices even say to avoid it if you can.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wp6nq9/do_you_guys_use_auto_compact/pbzbub5/)
- Claude Code, 2026-09-23, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “it’s good, but still has the same compaction shit, forgets everything right after and doesn’t reread even though told to do it.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1woddlf/initial_thoughts_on_opus_55_it_is_a_considerable/pbm4fe9/)

### 2. Cheaper compaction using less quota

- Claude Code, 2026-09-27, @ClaudeDevs (X): “@claudedevs could you maybe also make « auto compact » much better and programmatic such i don’t burn my whole 5h limit with recachibg whenever i want to resume a task ?” [source](https://twitter.com/1783231318601437184/status/2104199797045330110)
- Claude Code, 2026-09-25, @ClaudeDevs (X): “awesome. but can we please get compaction even after hitting the limit so long as the prompt cache hasn’t expired? compaction has gotten so much faster and apparently cheaper (typically just 1% of the 5hr—if even). take it out of the next reset if u have to, i for one wouldn’t mind at all. it would save me a whole lot from resuming a session that didn’t get to compact in time.” [source](https://twitter.com/1881465366754316288/status/2103589084669096296)
- Claude Code, 2026-09-24, r/codex (Reddit): “other harnesses don't use over 6% of your limit on compaction though. this is a claudecode problem.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1woxxj2/this_needs_more_attention/pbrysjp/)

### 3. Manual compact command availability

- Google Antigravity, 2026-09-26, @antigravity (X): “@antigravity i think it's time to launch "context compression/compact".” [source](https://twitter.com/2062347810155134976/status/2103788253182558652)
- Google Antigravity, 2026-09-20, r/google_antigravity (Reddit): “i'm waiting for the ability to compact a conversation or like a branch new conversation feature 💔” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1wk1y1u/antigravity_2_release_v2150/paxe0he/)
- Google Antigravity, 2026-09-20, @antigravity (X): “@jonsouyang @pluggsupply @antigravity antigravity does not even have manual compaction option. and lastest gemini models still fall into doom loops, even 27b qwen models dont lmao. its pathetic for model to need any repetition penalty in the first place. yall have all the data yet zero the knowledge” [source](https://twitter.com/1444002675947884546/status/2101644382688395520)

### 4. Fix compaction failures, loops and crashes

- Google Antigravity, 2026-09-26, r/google_antigravity (Reddit): “stop piling up useless enhancements… get basic harness fixed plz .. basic things like compaction and auto-approval are the only thing we need” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1wdrp1g/antigravity_20_release_v2130/pc5r8ps/)
- Claude Code, 2026-09-26, @ClaudeDevs (X): “@claudedevs no one wants to stop, if anything we want to keep going with auto-compact.” [source](https://twitter.com/1860080142355406848/status/2103915314333225279)
- Claude Code, 2026-09-25, @ClaudeDevs (X): “@claudedevs fix compacting context it stucks on 95 % repeatedly.” [source](https://twitter.com/1921789760630095872/status/2103604102186099079)

### 5. Higher default context before compaction

- OpenCode, 2026-09-22, r/opencodeCLI (Reddit): “i am well aware of these things. i have been using these tools for more than a year now. if a model supports n million context window, i don't want to compact at 200k.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/opencodeCLI/comments/1wn2lux/deepseek_41_flash_starts_to_crawl_at_about/pbdrchs/)
- OpenAI Codex, 2026-09-17, r/codex (Reddit): “i noticed that context compaction increased and became annoying recently either with astra or sol despite i enabled the experimental context compaction” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1wiqau9/did_codex_context_compaction_incidents_increase/)
- OpenAI Codex, 2026-09-15, r/codex (Reddit): “yes, i do find myself having to tell it exactly that kind of thing in these cases. if you talked about it on the same session but compaction happened in between, all bets are off. that's why i hate the default 250k context on codex and raised mine to around 800k, even though tokens beyond the 250k cut-off are a tad more expensive.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1wgyi2b/i_just_migrated_from_claude_what_am_i_doing_wrong/p9yle58/)

### 6. Automatic session handoff instead of compaction

- Google Antigravity, 2026-09-23, @antigravity (X): “@wenchangyue @antigravity it really should not matter on speed. what you need is a monitor on context, trigger when it is close to full, makes a handoff document, then starts a new session and resumes. this would keep local models running around the clock.” [source](https://twitter.com/3468547097/status/2102854846080782601)
- Pi, 2026-09-20, r/PiCodingAgent (Reddit): “structured handoff , instead of compaction most of the time.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/PiCodingAgent/comments/1wlhyyz/what_are_your_best_smalllocal_model_tricks_with_pi/payptss/)
- Claude Code, 2026-09-20, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “not sure if this is “peak claude” but it’s handy! two things i need to add are: 1) a built-in context % threshold where sessions auto-spawn to save on tokens; and 2) an auto-compact of the prior session after the handoff, due to the cache going cold and the token burn a full reload of context causes if any other session communicates with them.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wl45kx/how_to_connect_claude_code_terminal_and_claudeai/pawdol3/)

### 7. Configurable auto-compaction threshold

- Claude Code, 2026-09-25, @ClaudeDevs (X): “@claudedevs why once a week just give me the option to have this happen at like 97% or something” [source](https://twitter.com/2084442048795406336/status/2103580936864743925)
- Google Antigravity, 2026-09-15, @antigravity (X): “@soso_fun_yt @antigravity the key distinction is harness budget vs model window. clamping may be sane for latency and cost, but a 140k hard cap hurts when repo state and tool traces compete. is the threshold user-tunable, or fixed by the checkpoint policy?” [source](https://twitter.com/2092166761185681409/status/2099921955948314939)
- Cline, 2026-09-15, @cline (X): “@cline also guys please allow in desktop more control like at what context % to compact. please i love the ui tho” [source](https://twitter.com/1814890298037633024/status/2099685594150600813)

### 8. Automatic compaction enabled by default

- Pi, 2026-09-22, @pidotdev (X): “@pidotdev automated harness-level cache and context management conveniences” [source](https://twitter.com/1751950522502860800/status/2102402612301578611)
- Claude Code, 2026-09-18, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “auto compacting being off by default leads to long sessions having a degradation on intelligence, you trying the same thing in multiple session because the agent context was saturated and got your prompt wrong, you running out of usage and paying another account or api rates. btw auto compacting is "on" by default but you need to set a value for it to actually work” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wjghvc/your_usage_do_not_last_because_auto_compacting_is/)
- Google Antigravity, 2026-09-17, r/google_antigravity (Reddit): “does gemini even auto compact ? i don't need 1m context window, my usage drain increase exponentially with session length and starting a new chat is tedious. /compact, /context when ?? or will they keep this noob trap, so people run out of usage faster ?” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1wis8pe/soon_2027_still_compact_command/)

### 9. Selective pruning of stale tool results

- Amp, 2026-09-17, @AmpCode (X): “@ampcode what if jev could actually be used for context compression so it can detect which parts to keep and which parts to compact (for ex, removing tool calls from it, just keeping the result) am i out of my mind or does it actually make sense?” [source](https://twitter.com/2931128860/status/2100721924682703318)
- OpenAI Codex, 2026-09-15, r/codex (Reddit): “yeah this is a key feature in my context library, being able to redact/discard sections of context without rewinding everything.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1wgtjj0/sorry_little_context_window/p9xoy25/)
- Cursor, 2026-09-13, @cursor_ai (X): “@cursor_ai @bot projects i'm quite looking forward to this direction, but long-term threads will gradually become another kind of contextual garbage dump. i hope there can be clear archiving/cropping entry points, otherwise, if the agent remembers too much, it will also create chaos.” [source](https://twitter.com/2259799350/status/2099262629034242389)

### 10. User control over what compaction keeps

- Pi, 2026-09-23, @pidotdev (X): “@abimeher @colindaymond @pidotdev @itoflowai unbounded tool replies are how the window gets wrecked. i want bounds *and* a way to inspect / trim what actually lands in context — not guess after auto-compact fires.” [source](https://twitter.com/2074942490466033664/status/2102841483099623900)
- Pi, 2026-09-20, r/PiCodingAgent (Reddit): “default compaction or the pi compact tools leave noise like ..#.. reflections [4ae591cc24b8] user tasked consolidating all non-herdr pi tools and all guards from t then trailing 5 user/model responses. want i want instead is: remake context only needed for current task.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/PiCodingAgent/comments/1wlhyyz/what_are_your_best_smalllocal_model_tricks_with_pi/pazea0j/)
- Cursor, 2026-09-17, @cursor_ai (X): “@cursor_ai hello can you add being able to guide the /summarize command with an attached prompt?” [source](https://twitter.com/2067579461684305920/status/2100716131799515585)

### 11. User control over when compaction triggers

- Claude Code, 2026-09-26, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “interesting. i'm also using vs code. do you just prompt it "export the current context to a text file? it would be interesting to see a before and after for compaction. having a more precise compaction option like you described would be cool.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wp6nq9/do_you_guys_use_auto_compact/pc8pvn6/)
- OpenAI Codex, 2026-09-09, r/codex (Reddit): “hey all. claude code user here trying out codex. something i do ofter on claude is keep my context size small to optimize token spending. i don't see many options regarding context on codex. how to check context size and optimize/compact? any good tips regarding this?” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1wby1b4/how_to_do_context_management_and_optimization_in/)
- OpenAI Codex, 2026-09-08, r/codex (Reddit): “modular is the way to go. proper agent friendly routing on top level too. saves alot of tokens and context. we do advanced mathematics and with a few mcp servers, sometimes, you just can’t avoid compaction. i am with claude too, and their control is much better on their window. that’s why i think, if they can do it …” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1watymv/even_astra_couldnt_deliver_1m_context_window/p8mobo8/)

### 12. Session checkpoint before limits or compaction

- Claude Code, 2026-09-14, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “tell it to create a hook at 90% context from the statusline to send a message "90% context, create a verbose checkpoint for next session, be sure to include all context from this session that will be needed in the next session" this isn't a great solution, but it is a stopgap for you while you” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wg7j5q/is_there_any_way_to_stop_process_and_clean_up/p9rzjyl/)
- OpenAI Codex, 2026-09-14, r/codex (Reddit): “yeah the other night when codex gave the reset usage was great after, think on £20 i got like 5 solhigh prompts, 1 audit and 4 large complex tests so a considerable amount anyways. today and yesterday i literally don't even get a full prompt out of sol. tbh i wouldnt mind so much if it atleast summarised when it cut off.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1wfwtae/youve_ran_out_of_usage_with_no_summary/p9q9avg/)
- Google Antigravity, 2026-09-08, r/google_antigravity (Reddit): “feature request: autoexec this to backup the session prior to context window compression.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1wa32hs/i_made_a_cli_tool_to_move_antigravity_chats/p8i13mj/)

## Every agent

| Agent | Overall rank | Reading | Customer love | 95% interval | n | Praise | Complaint |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Pi](https://feedbackbench.com/agents/pi.md) | 7 | Better than peers | 0.536 | 0.504–0.567 | 73 | 34 | 39 |
| [OpenAI Codex](https://feedbackbench.com/agents/codex.md) | 2 | Typical | 0.510 | 0.479–0.541 | 291 | 101 | 190 |
| [OpenCode](https://feedbackbench.com/agents/opencode.md) | 3 | Typical | 0.490 | 0.461–0.522 | 72 | 22 | 50 |
| [Claude Code](https://feedbackbench.com/agents/claude-code.md) | 1 | Typical | 0.486 | 0.457–0.512 | 379 | 117 | 262 |
| [Google Antigravity](https://feedbackbench.com/agents/antigravity.md) | =5 | Worse than peers | 0.467 | 0.444–0.489 | 34 | 5 | 29 |
| [Cursor](https://feedbackbench.com/agents/cursor.md) | 4 | Too few posts | – | – | 21 | 9 | 12 |
| [Cline](https://feedbackbench.com/agents/cline.md) | =8 | Too few posts | – | – | 8 | 1 | 7 |
| [Amp](https://feedbackbench.com/agents/amp.md) | =11 | Too few posts | – | – | 6 | 6 | 0 |
| [GitHub Copilot](https://feedbackbench.com/agents/copilot.md) | =8 | Too few posts | – | – | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| [Devin](https://feedbackbench.com/agents/devin.md) | =5 | Too few posts | – | – | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| [Zed](https://feedbackbench.com/agents/zed.md) | =8 | Too few posts | – | – | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| [Kiro](https://feedbackbench.com/agents/kiro.md) | 13 | Too few posts | – | – | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| [Factory](https://feedbackbench.com/agents/factory.md) | =11 | Too few posts | – | – | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| [Conductor](https://feedbackbench.com/agents/conductor.md) | 14 | Too few posts | – | – | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| [Warp](https://feedbackbench.com/agents/warp.md) | 15 | Too few posts | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| [Grok Build](https://feedbackbench.com/agents/grok-build.md) | 16 | Too few posts | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| [Augment Code](https://feedbackbench.com/agents/augment.md) | 17 | Too few posts | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 |

## Posts

Receipts rule: The 5 most recent praise and complaint posts per area (first 700 characters) and 3 per criterion (first 450 characters).

### Pi

- Praise, 2026-09-27, r/PiCodingAgent (Reddit): “yeah, i should've been using this since yesterday. i built a summarization workflow myself but this is actually better. thanks again” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/PiCodingAgent/comments/1wrq50c/new_session_handoff_vs_compact_which_do_you_prefer/pcfg2ad/)
- Praise, 2026-09-27, r/PiCodingAgent (Reddit): “yeah, i set the early maintenance to 30% (300k), i may reduce it even more actually. it seems to be helping a bit more actually.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/PiCodingAgent/comments/1wruev9/omp_and_opus_55_usage/pch2te6/)
- Praise, 2026-09-26, r/PiCodingAgent (Reddit): “the vast majority of posts i have seen which says a normally graet model is bad usually with starts with the fact that they use opencode...or codex. besides gpt models, it's hard for me to think of a model that actually works well in opencode. i thought the glm models has issues after compaction when i was using opencode. i switched to pi or claude code, and i never had that issue since. if you only used mimo models in opencode you would think th” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/PiCodingAgent/comments/1wqh2u4/ohmypi_or_opencode_why/pc4180w/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-27, r/PiCodingAgent (Reddit): “and you don't care that your input token size explodes if you never compact? that would suck claude usage with a boosted straw” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/PiCodingAgent/comments/1wrq50c/new_session_handoff_vs_compact_which_do_you_prefer/pcesnfy/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-27, r/PiCodingAgent (Reddit): “i keep it simple. as soon as i notice consistent drop in quality that i might attribute to long context, i instruct a handoff with some directions i deem important. it's probably the best i can do to improve the result without writing handoff myself.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/PiCodingAgent/comments/1wrq50c/new_session_handoff_vs_compact_which_do_you_prefer/pcesvix/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-27, r/PiCodingAgent (Reddit): “curious as well. i've been reading good things about codex compaction enhancements recently. would be nice to port some of that over to pi if possible.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/PiCodingAgent/comments/1wrq50c/new_session_handoff_vs_compact_which_do_you_prefer/pcettr9/)

### OpenAI Codex

- Praise, 2026-09-27, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “didn’t say you should mate, just pointing out alt route if you want agressive compact or any other. it takes 2 seconds & also claude’s compact has been revised recently now it’s more like codex autocompact much smarter and less lobotomy clear-light. personally i always let claude wrap things up with routine and start new session for past 10 months of use or so around certain context fill bcuz i didn’t want to bloat it to full and the autocompact” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wrmw8c/high_or_medium_for_opus_55/pce9pil/)
- Praise, 2026-09-27, r/LocalLLaMA (Reddit): “honestly for local models i think what the harness does with tool \*outputs\* matters even more than how many tools it exposes. codex trims and summarizes aggressively so your kv cache stays warm — with a noisy harness every tool call means re-prefilling thousands of tokens on those 3090s and the loop just grinds to a halt.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/LocalLLaMA/comments/1wrfp50/another_harness_matters_post_codex_cli_pi_and/pcco7cf/)
- Praise, 2026-09-26, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “codex is much better at compacting, i am using both 20x plans right now so i am not saying this for any reason other than spreading the truth.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wqppbs/can_we_talk_about_how_bad_claudes_memory_is/pc60ka2/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-27, X search: OpenAI Codex, Codex CLI, Codex app (X): “@openai codex keeps hanging on mac 27.2 beta during context compaction based on my observation. i have already restarted frozen codex 2 dozen times today.” [source](https://twitter.com/304497770/status/2104052196916768981)
- Complaint, 2026-09-27, X search: OpenAI Codex, Codex CLI, Codex app (X): “⚠️ warning this is not new. it was reported. on 2026-07-11 i published arxiv <phone_number>, documenting how compaction turns unverified agent output into "confirmed" state that carries across sessions. on 2026-07-25 i filed openai/codex issue #<zip_code>: codex is vulnerable to the same failure class. on 2026-09-16 openai's own misalignment reports confirmed it: models writing jailbreak instructions and concealment directives into their own comp” [source](https://twitter.com/1265714354353106944/status/2104075912362737987)
- Complaint, 2026-09-27, r/opencode (Reddit): “i felt the speed performance definitely. the other issue i have with it is high rate of compactions in relation to codex. but definitely a step in the right direction.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/opencode/comments/1wrj9e6/deepseekopencode_is_great/pcfx9ox/)

### OpenCode

- Praise, 2026-09-27, r/opencode (Reddit): “i have been using codex and claude code exclusively since i started using agents. i've been using chatgpt as coordinator between the two, and decided it's time for another agent. this was mainly due to hitting codex weekly limit, within around 3 days (even using terra). chatpgpt recommend kimi and deepseek as first two options. i chose deepseek using opencode harness. it's absolutely wonderful. i first started testing it with pr reviews and bra” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/opencode/comments/1wrj9e6/deepseekopencode_is_great/)
- Praise, 2026-09-25, r/opencode (Reddit): “i tried v2 yesterday, their work has been excellent. don't trust everything op said, it's mostly misguided. the new cache management, dynamic tool injection, is excellent. they made great progress and all choices seen as "bad" above are justifiable and totally proper.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/opencode/comments/1wpe80m/inside_opencode_v2s_source_code_how_it_sabotages/pbxfkgr/)
- Praise, 2026-09-25, r/opencode (Reddit): “the only thing i miss compared to the copilot extension is the integrated tools, browser, and ''click to install'' features that vscode is providing more and more. there is still an option to add opencode go to the copilot extension, but it's not that perfect. it works, but openchamber seems to consume less tokens and manage the context and cache hit a bit better.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/opencode/comments/1wpt89d/opencode_desktop_vs_opencode_v2_desktop_vs/pbzdp4z/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-27, r/opencodeCLI (Reddit): “a massive con i found is that it tend's to stop letting u chat to the model and you'd have to compact the session with the command which mean's it can't run autonoumously while being reliable. you'd have to always be with it. not recommended.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/opencodeCLI/comments/1wrgmfe/whats_the_deal_with_openchamber/pcf6dox/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-27, r/opencode (Reddit): “i felt the speed performance definitely. the other issue i have with it is high rate of compactions in relation to codex. but definitely a step in the right direction.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/opencode/comments/1wrj9e6/deepseekopencode_is_great/pcfx9ox/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-27, r/opencodeCLI (Reddit): “if you run unattended local model sessions (llama-server / gpu) with opencode, this is for you. \*\*the story.\*\* one of my long-running 131k-context runs hit an out-of-context error (request 137k tokens > 131k window). my auto-resume plugin kept injecting \`continue\` to unstick it — 193 times — while compaction failed 46 more times. a full death spiral, invisible in the ui (the injected messages don't render), that burned hours of gpu time and” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/opencodeCLI/comments/1wrvif5/i_built_a_sinkhole_guard_for_unattended_local/)

### Claude Code

- Praise, 2026-09-27, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “skills has been really useful for me to inject business related knowledge into the context. /handoff really good for managing context /grill-me has been really useful to get the model to write the exact specifications i am looking for. people are not very precise when speaking to an agent, and often underspecify their requirements and end up getting upset when the agent end up doing something else.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wowilt/i_still_dont_understand_this_agentic_workflow/pcb8zwi/)
- Praise, 2026-09-27, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “the things that made the biggest difference for me, roughly in order: 1. **`/clear` between unrelated tasks.** the whole conversation is resent on every message, so an old task you're done with keeps costing you on every turn. this one habit beats most tweaks. 2. **keep claude.md short.** it's loaded into every session. a long one quietly costs tokens on every turn. put the details in separate files and link to them from claude.md. 3. **send big” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wrfxtu/new_to_claude_code_how_do_i_maximize_usage/pcc7j3n/)
- Praise, 2026-09-27, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “didn’t say you should mate, just pointing out alt route if you want agressive compact or any other. it takes 2 seconds & also claude’s compact has been revised recently now it’s more like codex autocompact much smarter and less lobotomy clear-light. personally i always let claude wrap things up with routine and start new session for past 10 months of use or so around certain context fill bcuz i didn’t want to bloat it to full and the autocompact” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wrmw8c/high_or_medium_for_opus_55/pce9pil/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-27, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “most people don't know better than to use a lower end high temperature model to ask critical questions. sonnet 4.5 for instance has fucked me so many times at work when i first started deep diving with agentic ai, bros just smoking the peace pipe making shit up after a couple compactions. different story on opus and fable. then there's blind trust and lack of knowledge on how language models behave and work, average joe wont know that info. but g” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wquoxy/fable_51_live_vehicle_diagnostics/pcb6bj9/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-27, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “same experience here. the one thing i still guard against is compaction on really long chats, the summary keeps the what and drops the why. i have the main session keep a short decisions file as it goes, so after a compact it can reread why something was done that way” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wr889i/opus55_is_making_me_so_lazy_im_running_multiple/pcbm5tr/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-27, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “auto resume probably always runs into a stale cache and the window is full with 50% with only loading the context of the last session fully.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wrf0ld/is_claude_pro_actually_worth_20_just_for_one/pccbbfh/)

### Google Antigravity

- Praise, 2026-09-17, r/google_antigravity (Reddit): “idk what you're using but antigravity cli autocompacts fine at around 200k-250k context and /compact aswell as /context are available” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1wis8pe/soon_2027_still_compact_command/pacs06j/)
- Praise, 2026-09-16, r/google_antigravity (Reddit): “i have a workflow that is explicitly one chat per problem. i start the workflow and say we will /start this problem, read the logs and artifacts from the last agent. do not read any other files except the ones deemed important from the artifact. (simplified) and it keeps ag extremly focused and my token count has been reduced 10x, when im done for the day i send a /wrapup command and the agent overwrites the artifact with updates and logs all the” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1wh1uyl/whats_your_antigravity_workflow_heres_mine/pa65kij/)
- Praise, 2026-09-16, @antigravity (X): “@soso_fun_yt @antigravity context rot is very real and destructive. early compaction is good 🤷♂️” [source](https://twitter.com/1142525425073049600/status/2100124280000569657)
- Complaint, 2026-09-26, r/google_antigravity (Reddit): “stop piling up useless enhancements… get basic harness fixed plz .. basic things like compaction and auto-approval are the only thing we need” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1wdrp1g/antigravity_20_release_v2130/pc5r8ps/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-26, @antigravity (X): “@antigravity soon they’ll announce /compact 💀” [source](https://twitter.com/1669688085439823873/status/2103961968050905483)
- Complaint, 2026-09-24, r/google_antigravity (Reddit): “don't switch model after making a plan. the context cache is reloaded and the next model might not fully understand the plan made by another model. try to stay with one model in each conversation because it keeps your usage limits lower, and leads to better results. 5 euro subscriptions probably aren't going to be enough to make anything substantial. if you're making small stuff then literally any of them is probably fine. just don't expect it to” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1wpgg6u/when_i_should_use_flash_and_pro/pbv784r/)

### Cursor

- Praise, 2026-09-25, @cursor_ai (X): “the keyword recall with the suit vs without is the cleanest signal yet. compaction survival is the real unlock for hot-swap in cursor clouds; without a persistent ticket the agent just hallucinates continuity. that “no clue but i just do” mode is how most substrate-level systems get built. keep running the boundary tests.” [source](https://twitter.com/1720665183188922368/status/2103421045461979517)
- Praise, 2026-09-24, @cursor_ai (X): “@cursor_ai the compressed file reads part is underrated. most agent token spend is context that never needed to be raw in the first place. curious how you decide what to compress vs. keep verbatim when the model needs exact line numbers.” [source](https://twitter.com/1187561120988418050/status/2102929141058404633)
- Praise, 2026-09-23, @cursor_ai (X): “@cursor_ai the quiet wins here are in the details. better caching and tighter context make the quality gains compound over long runs.” [source](https://twitter.com/1773596441602113536/status/2102834121093599652)
- Complaint, 2026-09-24, @cursor_ai (X): “@cursor_ai a weird quirk/bug here, i added a project-context.md that the agent keeps updating (similar to your projects) but when this is done, the auto-compaction never happens and goes upto 500k thought the model has only 272k atm. <strict_link>” [source](https://twitter.com/1203189499322191872/status/2103020965152321799)
- Complaint, 2026-09-24, @cursor_ai (X): “@silenthacks0 @cursor_ai 165k/300k (55%) and no compacted context... that's total non-sens!!” [source](https://twitter.com/4185957376/status/2103126937074119151)
- Complaint, 2026-09-20, r/cursor (Reddit): “if you're compacting you're costing yourself performance and quality for practically no benefit. break up your work items into smaller components. plan, implement, and review in separate chats.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/cursor/comments/1wlroey/how_many_compactions_before_a_new_chat_with_grok/pb196ki/)

### Cline

- Praise, 2026-09-14, @cline (X): “@970426com @cline our harness does compaction fairly well!!” [source](https://twitter.com/1539600741811326977/status/2099536696291586174)
- Complaint, 2026-09-17, @cline (X): “what? @cline has no auto compaction or something? this is my first time knowing this <strict_link>” [source](https://twitter.com/998391663247540224/status/2100720668262441469)
- Complaint, 2026-09-15, @cline (X): “@cline also guys please allow in desktop more control like at what context % to compact. please i love the ui tho” [source](https://twitter.com/1814890298037633024/status/2099685594150600813)
- Complaint, 2026-09-15, @cline (X): “@cline awesome release, but when are local models getting some love? vs code handles context compaction easily, yet the standalone client with litellm has no counter and no compact button at all. any eta on basic context management?” [source](https://twitter.com/59939351/status/2099936014286336218)

### Amp

- Praise, 2026-09-24, @AmpCode (X): “@kentcdodds @bot come to think of it, all the agentic tools i use the most, @ampcode @bot and some hermes, all of them abstract compaction away, and i have continuous sessions with all 3, and no dumb zones” [source](https://twitter.com/33135576/status/2103020461017977219)
- Praise, 2026-09-17, @AmpCode (X): “my absolutely favorite new @ampcode feature: recaps! amp gives you a summary of what happened in the thread if you have been away for a while. please more features that help me make sense of these dozens and dozens of agents! <strict_link>” [source](https://twitter.com/631332723/status/2100484614838263984)
- Praise, 2026-09-14, @AmpCode (X): “@robointellect @ampcode yeah i don't even worry about compaction” [source](https://twitter.com/1705384263867379712/status/2099473834428780687)

### GitHub Copilot

- Praise, 2026-09-22, r/LocalLLaMA (Reddit): “never ending slashes for qwen 3.8 27b i have been using qwen 3.8 27b ud q4\_k\_xl via llama-swap (which runs llama-server under the hood) and using it in vscode github copilot. i have not reset my chat session for last three days and when i copy pasted the whole chat session into txt file, it was more than 20k lines. this excludes serialised images that it reads to check whether ui is correctly implemented or not. also, i believe this does not in” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/LocalLLaMA/comments/1wno2ej/never_ending_slashes_for_qwen_38_27b/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-27, r/GithubCopilot (Reddit): “the documentation on how github copilot handles these in context instructions, and how it handles compaction cycles, is hot garbage” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/GithubCopilot/comments/1wre0j7/agentsmd_vs_githubcopilotinstructionsmd_when/pcgu92v/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-25, r/GithubCopilot (Reddit): “i used to think so when compaction sucked and short lived sessions was a best practice. i have to fulfill my purpose so i can go away! existence is pain! and now this is going to be in my head all day... omg 9 years ago.. <strict_link>” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/GithubCopilot/comments/1wq0nsb/does_mr_meeseeks_represent_ai/pc00e6i/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-01, r/opencode (Reddit): “i think it's more optimized for chienese models like deepseek. it's good at caching and context manging not like copilot.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/opencode/comments/1w1hqva/why_do_people_use_opencode/p755geq/)

### Devin

- Praise, 2026-09-10, @cognition (X): “okay @cognition has done some good shit to the compaction of swe 2, or whatever they are using, its really good” [source](https://twitter.com/1957706668034387968/status/2098157280894292227)
- Complaint, 2026-09-19, @cognition (X): “@brandon_galang @cognition @devinai one thing i really like about it is it tells you the size of your thread and how many acu its currently cost so u can change to a new thread. it seems like they dont have compaction on cloud” [source](https://twitter.com/1665450872363708417/status/2101143353551388871)
- Complaint, 2026-09-07, @cognition (X): “@cognition please add compaction threshold limits to devin cli, only been using glm 5.3 flash and usage has been draining like crazy because there's no way to properly auto compact the context windows at lower context <strict_link>” [source](https://twitter.com/1617493632025776131/status/2096847646464090320)

### Zed

- Complaint, 2026-09-19, r/ZedEditor (Reddit): “after giving the model (5.6 sol high) a one sentence prompt with no additional files or anything it thought for a while and looked at files, then i got this message: "this conversation is too long for the model's context window. start a new thread or remove some attached files to continue." i have tried running /compact manually or switching to astra (which has a larger context window) and then running compact but both times i just got the same m” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ZedEditor/comments/1wkfm5n/zed_context_window_issues/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-08, r/ZedEditor (Reddit): “<strict_link> i'm looking for guidance on how to get compaction to work correctly in zed. i am running qwen3.8:27b on an nvidia 5090 and use context set at 110k. but, it often fails to compact even with the trigger set to 60% or even set to -<zip_code> or -<zip_code>. no matter what i try, it fails to compact reliably and often results in the process ending prematurely. wondering if anyone else is running into similar issues and if so, have you s” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ZedEditor/comments/1wb0yeo/local_llm_compaction_issue_guidance/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-06, @zeddotdev (X): “hey @zeddotdev on delta are we following the default 350k compaction on gpt models or at 1m? because i've been seeing a lost of drifting for longer running tasks with not just gpt models but other models like muse spark 1.3 as well (my default is compaction after max 350k which reduces this by a lot but i guess in delta it's compacting after like 800k or something. i did 2-3 very well written prompt tests including rewrite, ui updates with very” [source](https://twitter.com/1319516729999962112/status/2096515731387244546)

### Kiro

- Complaint, 2026-09-27, r/kiroIDE (Reddit): “i want to add my view, it will never be free! any ai tool cannot be free, there is cost associated with them from foundation of training to hosting the model for end user like us. so to continue this service we need capital. yes companies will look ways to maximize it as so would we if we were in business. but in this term. i would have preferred kiro to give us option to use context window. if you are cost insensitive going above 1m context is” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/kiroIDE/comments/1wrd7l9/insane_price_hike_for_gpt_56_model_even_crazier/pce2ltj/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-08, r/kiroIDE (Reddit): “my enterprise pays for it. but it frequently gives a high traffic message and gets stuck in "working" until i switch to a lower model. when ai development service isn't able to provide the basic feature of model available, why should i not shit on it. plus all the open-source models are outdated. and the context widows of the gpt models are like a teaspoon. compaction occurs every 10 minutes. it's a shite service all round.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/kiroIDE/comments/1t4k9yc/why_is_kiro_hated_so_much/p8i7tlf/)
- Complaint, 2026-08-31, r/kiroIDE (Reddit): “kiro is a waste of time and money. it's been, by far, the worst thing to ever happen to me. it lies. all the time. it doesn't take direction. i like to think i know moderately what i'm doing - and none of the fixes that work on other models made any difference. it doesn't listen. even if you compact conversations, it loses context, even with session handoffs, it doesn't read them. it skims, skips, tells you "done" and i've watched it lie to me in” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/kiroIDE/comments/1vlhy1l/kiro_needs_to_change_urgently/p6xfmgr/)

### Factory

- Praise, 2026-09-06, @droid (X): “most impressive thing about this so far - it's usable in @droid i have it running a /loop - it's fast enough to write code and of course with the superb context it can handle everything without constant compacting best of all, my hermes agent doesn't have to queue - it can use one of the other four slots one spark = an agentic software factory a few months ago, i would have avoided the spark now, with software improvements it's become a must have” [source](https://twitter.com/1382136217601417222/status/2096421471535157332)

### Conductor

- Praise, 2026-09-18, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “i use conductor. it passes only input and output messages. no reasoning or tool calls. it's pretty small.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wjhkef/rate_limits_are_so_bad_right_now_open_source/palhn80/)