github / github/copilot-cli

Show context window size (tokens) in /model command alongside premium request multiplier

Open
#1,851 2 comments 5 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
area:context-memory area:models
Dominant language
Shell
Stars
11.2k
Forks
1.9k
Avg merge
14h 16m
Merged PRs (30d)
6

Description

### Describe the feature or problem you'd like to solve

The `/model` command shows the premium request multiplier for each model but not the context window size (max tokens). There is no way to know, from within the CLI, how many tokens a model actually supports in Copilot.

### Proposed solution

Add the context window size (in tokens) to the output of `/model`, alongside the existing premium request multiplier.

**Current `/model` output:**
```
claude-sonnet-4.6 ×1 (default)
claude-opus-4.6 ×3
```

**Proposed `/model` output:**
```
claude-sonnet-4.6 ×1 160k ctx (default)
claude-opus-4.6 ×3 160k ctx
```

The context window values should reflect what **Copilot actually makes available** (i.e. the `max_prompt_tokens` configured in its routing layer), not just the provider's theoretical max. This distinction matters because the effective context window Copilot exposes may differ from the provider's advertised limits — and today users have no visibility into this.

### Example prompts or workflows

1. **Choosing between models for a long session**: A developer about to start a large refactor touching 30+ files runs `/model` to pick the model with the largest effective context window, not just the cheapest in premium requests.

2. **Debugging degraded responses**: A user notices the model is repeating tool calls and re-reading already-processed files. Knowing they're at 160k/200k tokens (vs just "78%") helps correlate the degradation with the known "lost in the middle" effect at high context fill.

3. **Cross-client comparison**: A user switching between VSCode Copilot, Copilot CLI, and Claude Code wants to know if they get the same effective context window across clients. Today this is completely opaque.

### Additional context

- The data is likely already available in the API response from `api.githubcopilot.com/models` (the `capabilities.limits` field), so this should be low-effort to surface.
- Related issues: [#1688](https://github.com/github/copilot-cli/issues/1688) and [#1761](https://github.com/github/copilot-cli/issues/1761) both request configurable compaction thresholds — knowing the absolute context window size would make those features even more useful.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Assessment

This issue has not been assessed yet.

Get new issues in your inbox

A short digest of beginner-friendly GitHub issues.