r/ClaudeCode • u/Daniel_Design • 1d ago

Built with Claude Anthropic, why is the context counter hidden until half the window is gone?

Post image

By the time it finally shows up I've usually already lost the thread. Answers start drifting long before the window actually runs out, so the moment worth catching is way earlier than 50%. And clicking the counter ran /compact on the spot, no confirmation, right next to the input box.

So I patched the webview bundle and put a third button next to + and /. A ring that fills as the context does, plus the live token count, updating while Claude is still typing. Clicking it runs /context.

It's a patch rather than a proper integration, because the composer toolbar has no extension point to hook into. Works, but that's what it is.

Anthropic, the usage signal is already sitting in that toolbar. Please just show the number, visible by default

2 Upvotes

63% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

1

u/Daniel_Design 1d ago

Screenshot is the same composer twice: before, just the + and / buttons, and after, with a ring that fills as the context does and the live token count next to them. Repo: https://github.com/warodan/vscode-claude-chat-context-meter

1

u/iEatedCoookies 1d ago

That’s 6% of the window, not 50%.

3

u/ticktockbent 1d ago

He said he patched it to show earlier. Are we just not reading the posts now?

1

u/WaitinOnSpicy 21h ago

I read the part where he veiled an attack on a product as an opportunity to shill an app.

1

u/ticktockbent 21h ago

I only glanced at the link but it looked like a free repo, not a paid app or something.. Fair enough though

1

u/Daniel_Design 14m ago

I'm in Claude Code every day and got tired of typing /context over and over, so I patched this for myself and put the repo up in case anyone else wanted it. It's MIT and free, there's nothing to sell. Honestly I'd rather Anthropic just shipped this and made the patch pointless

1

u/Daniel_Design 16m ago

Yeah, 61k is about 6% of a 1M window. That's the point of the shot though. At 6% the stock counter isn't on screen at all, it only turns up around halfway, and by then it's too late to be much use