The `/context` Command: X-Ray Vision for Your Tokens

Source: Dev.to

Introduction

Every AI model has a context window—a finite amount of information it can consider at once. Think of it like working memory. For Claude the window is substantial, but it isn’t infinite. Most developers don’t realize that the actual prompt is often just a fraction of what’s consuming that precious space.

Behind the scenes there are:

• system prompts
• MCP server configurations
• memory files
• accumulated conversation history

All silently eat into your token budget. Until now this was a black box: you’d hit limits without understanding why, or notice degraded responses without knowing the cause.

Welcome to Day 8 of our series. Today we pull back the curtain with the /context command—your personal X‑ray for seeing exactly what’s happening inside your Claude Code session.

The Problem

Token management in AI tools is frustrating for several reasons:

The context window is arguably the most important resource in AI‑assisted development. Operating blind is not a strategy—it’s a gamble.

The Solution

The /context command gives you complete visibility into your context‑window consumption.

How to Use It

/context

That’s it. Claude Code will display a detailed breakdown of everything consuming tokens in your current session.

What You’ll See

The output provides a comprehensive view:

📊 Context Window Usage
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Total Capacity:    200,000 tokens
Currently Used:     47,832 tokens (24%)
Available:         152,168 tokens

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

BREAKDOWN:

System Prompt           3,247 tokens   (6.8%)
├─ Base instructions      892 tokens
├─ Tool definitions     1,455 tokens
└─ Safety guidelines      900 tokens

MCP Servers             8,921 tokens  (18.6%)
├─ filesystem           2,341 tokens
├─ github                3,892 tokens
└─ database              2,688 tokens

Memory Files            5,443 tokens  (11.4%)
├─ CLAUDE.md            2,156 tokens
└─ project-context.md   3,287 tokens

Conversation History   28,104 tokens  (58.8%)
├─ Turn 1               4,521 tokens
├─ Turn 2               8,932 tokens
├─ Turn 3               6,221 tokens
└─ Turn 4               8,430 tokens

Pending Files           2,117 tokens   (4.4%)
└─ src/utils.ts         2,117 tokens

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Reading the Output

Pro Tips

1. Run /context early and often
   Check your context at the start of complex tasks. If you’re already at 60 % capacity before doing anything, consider a fresh session or compacting your history.

2. Audit your MCP servers
   If a particular server is consuming a lot of tokens but you’re not using its features, disconnect it for the current session:

   /mcp disconnect database

3. Keep memory files lean

   # Good: Essential context
   - TypeScript + React project
   - Uses Zustand for state
   - API base: /api/v2/
   
   # Bad: Excessive detail
   - Complete API documentation (500 lines)
   - Full component inventory
   - Historical decisions log

4. Use /compact when history bloats
   If conversation history is the main consumer, the /compact command can summarize and reduce it while preserving essential context.

5. Start fresh for new tasks
   Don’t hesitate to begin a new session for unrelated work. Carrying irrelevant history is pure waste.

Real‑World Use Case

You’re deep into a debugging session. Claude’s responses were great at first, but now they miss obvious context you mentioned earlier.

You run /context:

Total Capacity:    200,000 tokens
Currently Used:    187,432 tokens (94%)
Available:          12,568 tokens

The breakdown shows:

• Conversation History: 142,000 tokens
• Pending Files: 28,000 tokens (several large files)

Armed with this knowledge you:

1. Run /compact to summarize conversation history.
2. Close files you no longer need with /clear files.
3. Run /context again – usage drops to ~45 %.

Claude’s responses immediately improve because it now has room to think.

Conclusion

The /context command transforms token management from guesswork into science. It’s the difference between driving with a fuel gauge and driving blind, hoping you don’t run out.

Understanding your context consumption isn’t just about avoiding limits—it’s about optimization. Every unnecessary token is:

• Latency you didn’t need,
• Cost you didn’t have to pay, and
• Capacity you could have used for actual work.

Make /context a regular part of your Claude Code workflow. Your sessions will be more efficient, your responses will be more accurate, and you’ll finally understand the true shape of your AI conversations.

Coming up tomorrow: What if you could start a task on your desktop and finish it on your laptop? Or kick off a long‑running job and pick it up later? Day 9 introduces Claude Code Remote—seamless session mobility across devices. Your work, anywhere.

This is Day 8 of the “31 Days of Claude Code Features” series. Follow along to discover a new powerful feature every day.