← Concept IndexDEFINITION WHY IT MATTERS COMMONLY CONFUSED WITH
Context windows
Also called: context length, working memory
The context window is the maximum amount of text (measured in tokens) a model can consider at once — your prompt, the conversation so far, and any documents you paste, all together.
Everything outside the window is invisible to the model. Long chats, big documents, and 'remember what I said earlier' all run into this hard limit, which is why answers can quietly drop earlier detail.
Long-term memory or training. The window is temporary working space for one session; nothing in it is learned or retained after the session ends.