> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.elitea.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Managing Context and Budgets

This page covers two related aspects of chat resource management: **Context Management**, which tracks and controls token usage within a conversation, and **Budget Management**, which tracks and alerts on your project's cost budget.

## Context Management

The Context Budget widget displays real-time token usage metrics across Chat conversations, Agent runs, Pipeline executions, and Application configurations, providing immediate visibility into context consumption and management status.

Context management is **enabled by default** for all projects — no configuration is required to start using it. The Context Budget widget appears automatically once an active conversation exists.

> [!NOTE]
>
> To use context management, you need:
>
> * An active conversation in Chat, Agent, Pipeline, or Application
> * LLM model configured with context management support

### Accessing Context Management

Context management is available in multiple locations within ELITEA:

#### From Chat Conversations

Monitor and control context during active conversations:

1. Navigate to **Chat** → **Conversations** in the main menu
2. Select or create a conversation
3. Send the first message to initiate the conversation
4. The **Context Budget** widget appears in the right panel (bottom left) after the first message
5. The widget displays real-time token usage and management status
6. Click on the widget to view detailed metrics and controls

   ![Chat Context Budget](https://mintcdn.com/epam-a74ef051/ie739Bok6GV2tKeX/img/how-tos/chat-conversations/context-management/chat-context-budget.gif?s=53063eb27447ac2f604f6db4c56fc964)

#### In Agent Runs

Track context usage during agent execution:

1. Navigate to **Agents** and select an agent
2. Send the first message to initiate the conversation
3. The **Context Budget** widget appears above the chat panel interface after the first message
4. Monitor token consumption as the agent processes requests
5. View pruning and summarization activity in real-time

   ![Chat Context Budget](https://mintcdn.com/epam-a74ef051/ie739Bok6GV2tKeX/img/how-tos/chat-conversations/context-management/agent-context-budget.gif?s=c32232c62a4d90b7ac37dcb0ac397890)

#### In Pipeline Executions

Monitor context during pipeline chat panels:

1. Navigate to **Pipelines** and select a pipeline
2. Open the pipeline's chat panel interface
3. Send the first message to initiate the conversation
4. The **Context Budget** widget appears above the chat panel interface after the first message
5. Track context usage across pipeline node executions
6. Observe automatic context management as the pipeline runs

   ![Pipelinet](https://mintcdn.com/epam-a74ef051/ie739Bok6GV2tKeX/img/how-tos/chat-conversations/context-management/pipeline-context-budget.gif?s=35ec979f081351d9e3acaf21ec2c90af)

### Understanding the Context Budget Widget

The Context Budget widget provides three view modes that display progressively more detailed information.

**Collapsed View**

* The minimal view shows essential token usage at a glance:

  ![Collapsed View](https://mintcdn.com/epam-a74ef051/ie739Bok6GV2tKeX/img/how-tos/chat-conversations/context-management/collapsed-view.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=ie739Bok6GV2tKeX\&q=85\&s=5c656813f8908011b927a166f9bc6707)

**Status Indicator**: Simple line indicator showing
usage status

* Green: Normal usage (0-100%)
* Orange: High usage (more than 100%)

**Compact View**

The compact view adds token usage, message, and summary tracking:

* **Token Usage**: Current token utilization percentage with a high-usage warning indicator when context is running low
* **Messages Count**: Total messages in conversation context
* **Summaries Count**: Number of generated summaries
* **Edit Button**: Click to open the full Context Management configuration modal

  **Conversation**

  ![Compact View](https://mintcdn.com/epam-a74ef051/ie739Bok6GV2tKeX/img/how-tos/chat-conversations/context-management/compact-view.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=ie739Bok6GV2tKeX\&q=85\&s=907b7f1ce2410d3ae164e3a36b3f17d8)

  **Agents** and **Pipelines**

  ![Compact View](https://mintcdn.com/epam-a74ef051/ie739Bok6GV2tKeX/img/how-tos/chat-conversations/context-management/compact-view-agent.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=ie739Bok6GV2tKeX\&q=85\&s=1b8ebc21e5bd8f220b25f6bc1507e903)

**Expanded View**

The full view displays comprehensive context management details organized in collapsible sections. Click on each section to expand and configure settings.

**Available Sections:**

* **Context Strategy & Token Management**: Configure token limits and message preservation settings
* **Summarization**: Enable automatic summarization and configure summary generation parameters
* **User Instructions**: Manage system message preservation, default persona, and custom user instructions

  ![Expanded View](https://mintcdn.com/epam-a74ef051/ie739Bok6GV2tKeX/img/how-tos/chat-conversations/context-management/expanded-view.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=ie739Bok6GV2tKeX\&q=85\&s=d529cec92732b3b803394c0b096bcb46)

For detailed information about each parameter, see the [Configuration Parameters](#configuration-parameters) section below.

**Context Management Toggle**

* At the top of the expanded view, there is a toggle switch to enable or disable Context Management entirely. When disabled, all automatic context management features (pruning and summarization) are turned off.

  ![Context Management Toggle](https://mintcdn.com/epam-a74ef051/ie739Bok6GV2tKeX/img/how-tos/chat-conversations/context-management/context-managment-off.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=ie739Bok6GV2tKeX\&q=85\&s=20bf3158098090cbeff60c9391bb0e89)

### How Context Management Works

**Automatic Token Tracking**

The system continuously monitors token consumption:

1. **Message Addition**: Every new message added to conversation context
2. **Token Estimation**: Tokens calculated using tiktoken library (with character-based fallback)
3. **Real-Time Display**: Context Budget widget updates immediately
4. **Threshold Monitoring**: System checks if usage is approaching the maximum context token limit

Context Management settings are organized into three main sections in the expanded view modal.

> [!WARNING]
>
> When the model reaches its output token limit before finishing a response, a prompt appears directly in the chat. Click the **Continue** button to resume and receive the rest of the response. This may occur multiple times for very long outputs.
>
> ![Token Limit](https://mintcdn.com/epam-a74ef051/ie739Bok6GV2tKeX/img/how-tos/chat-conversations/context-management/token-limit-message.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=ie739Bok6GV2tKeX\&q=85\&s=61ab8f8c0063913f383e33a1a63a132b)

### Configuration Parameters

#### Overview Metrics

* The expanded view displays three real-time usage metrics:

  ![Metrics](https://mintcdn.com/epam-a74ef051/ie739Bok6GV2tKeX/img/how-tos/chat-conversations/context-management/overview-metrics.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=ie739Bok6GV2tKeX\&q=85\&s=bdb6b9573ca9efc9071adf36917ef93f)

  | Metric | Description | Example |
  | - | - | - |
  | **Tokens** | Current token usage with percentage | "2,591 / 64,000 (4%)" |
  | **Messages** | Total number of messages in conversation | "7" |
  | **Summaries** | Number of generated summaries | "0" |

#### Context Strategy & Token Management

* Configure token limits and message preservation to control how context is managed:

  ![Context Strategy](https://mintcdn.com/epam-a74ef051/ie739Bok6GV2tKeX/img/how-tos/chat-conversations/context-management/context-strategy.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=ie739Bok6GV2tKeX\&q=85\&s=8937daab26367f7e0eb70d74b4d86945)

  | Parameter | Description | Default | Range/Options | Purpose |
  | - | - | - | - | - |
  | **Max Context Tokens** | Maximum number of tokens to keep in conversation context | 64,000 tokens | 1,000 - 10,000,000 | Defines the upper limit before pruning or summarization occurs |
  | **Preserve Recent Messages** | Number of most recent messages to always keep in context | 5 messages | 1 - 99 | Ensures the most recent messages are protected during context optimization |

#### Summarization

* Configure automatic summarization to compress older messages and preserve conversation continuity:

  ![Summarization](https://mintcdn.com/epam-a74ef051/ie739Bok6GV2tKeX/img/how-tos/chat-conversations/context-management/summarization.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=ie739Bok6GV2tKeX\&q=85\&s=11cf460b2762a96952861a8d8a2d2e27)

  | Parameter | Description | Default | Range/Options | Purpose |
  | - | - | - | - | - |
  | **Enable Automatic Summarization** | Toggle to enable or disable automatic conversation summarization | Enabled | On/Off | Controls whether the system automatically generates summaries when context limits are approached |
  | **Summarization Instructions** | Custom instructions for how summaries should be generated | "Generate a concise summary of the following conversation messages." | Free text (multiline) | Guides the LLM on how to create summaries that match your needs |
  | **Target Summary Tokens** | Target length for generated summaries | 4,096 tokens | 100 - 4,096 | Controls the conciseness of generated summaries |

  !!! info
  **Target Summary Tokens must always be less than Max Context Tokens.** The UI enforces this rule and will prevent saving if the value equals or exceeds Max Context Tokens.

##### How Summarization Works

* When the context approaches the token limit:

1. **Summarization Trigger**: System detects token usage exceeds trigger ratio (e.g., 100%)
2. **Message Selection**: Identifies messages eligible for summarization (excludes preserved recent messages)
3. **Summary Generation**: LLM generates concise summary of selected messages using the configured Summary Model and Summarization Instructions
4. **Message Replacement**: Original messages replaced with summary in context
5. **Token Reduction**: Context token count reduced while preserving conversation continuity
6. **Summary Storage**: Summary tracked (total summaries limited by summaries\_limit\_count)

#### User Instructions

* Configure system message preservation, default persona, and custom instructions for the assistant:

  ![User Instructions](https://mintcdn.com/epam-a74ef051/ie739Bok6GV2tKeX/img/how-tos/chat-conversations/context-management/user-instruction.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=ie739Bok6GV2tKeX\&q=85\&s=51ed30b06928510c387f2d7dc7d4a8df)

  | Parameter | Description | Default | Range/Options | Purpose |
  | - | - | - | - | - |
  | **Always Preserve System Messages** | Toggle to keep system messages during context pruning | Enabled | On/Off | Ensures system-level instructions remain available throughout the conversation |
  | **Default Persona** | Default assistant persona for model chat (without agent selected) | Generic | Generic, QA, Nerdy, Quirky, Cynical | Sets the assistant's default behavioral style when no agent is selected |
  | **User instructions** | Custom instructions for the assistant | — | Free text (multiline) | Defines custom behavior guidelines for the AI assistant |

### Usage Scenarios

> **Long-Running Conversations**
>
> **Use Case**: Maintain coherent conversations that exceed model token limits
>
> **Configuration:**
>
> * Max Context Tokens: 64,000
> * Preserve Recent Messages: 10
>
> **Behavior:**
>
> 1. User engages in extended conversation with AI assistant
> 2. Context grows naturally as messages are added
> 3. As context grows, older messages are automatically summarized to free up space
> 4. System generates summary of older messages
> 5. Last 10 messages always preserved for immediate context
> 6. Conversation continues seamlessly with reduced token usage
>
> **Benefits:**
>
> * No manual intervention required
> * Important conversation details preserved in summaries
> * Recent context always available
> * Conversation never "forgets" early important information

> **Multi-Turn Agent Tasks**
>
> **Use Case**: Agent performing complex tasks requiring multiple interactions
>
> **Configuration:**
>
> * Max Context Tokens: 32,000
> * Preserve Recent Messages: 5
>
> **Behavior:**
>
> 1. Agent starts task with initial instructions
> 2. Multiple tool calls and responses accumulate
> 3. As the context grows, oldest messages are automatically pruned to stay within the token limit
> 4. Last 5 exchanges preserved for immediate task context
> 5. Agent continues task execution without context overflow
>
> **Benefits:**
>
> * Task execution never interrupted by token limits
> * Most recent tool results always accessible
> * Efficient token usage for long-running tasks
> * Simplified context management for automated workflows

> **Pipeline Chat Contexts**
>
> **Use Case**: Pipeline with chat panel interface requiring context preservation
>
> **Configuration:**
>
> * Max Context Tokens: 16,000
> * Preserve Recent Messages: 8
>
> **Behavior:**
>
> 1. Pipeline nodes generate output and chat messages
> 2. User interactions add additional context
> 3. Context Budget widget shows real-time usage across pipeline execution
> 4. As the context grows, automatic pruning occurs to maintain token limits
> 5. Recent user messages are preserved per the configured setting
> 6. Pipeline continues with optimized context
>
> **Benefits:**
>
> * Pipeline execution state preserved
> * User can continue interacting without interruption
> * Important node outputs retained
> * Balanced context across pipeline stages

### Best Practices

**Monitoring Context Usage**

> **Regular Budget Checks**
>
> * Check Context Budget widget periodically during long conversations
> * Pay attention to color changes in the percentage bar:
>   * Green: Safe range, context is within limits
>   * Yellow: Context is at or beyond the configured limit; the widget also shows the warning "Context usage is high. Consider configuring budget settings."
> * Expand widget to full view for detailed metrics when the bar turns yellow
> * Use compact view for quick token usage and message count checks

> **Understanding Token Consumption**
>
> * Different message types consume different token amounts:
>   * System prompts: Variable (often 100-500 tokens)
>   * User messages: Depends on length (typically 10-200 tokens)
>   * Assistant responses: Variable (often 100-1000+ tokens)
>   * Tool calls: Includes function definitions (can be 50-300 tokens each)
> * Attachments and images can significantly increase token usage
> * Summary messages reduce overall token count while preserving information

**Optimizing Conversations**

> **Message Structure**
>
> * Keep messages concise when possible to reduce token consumption
> * Break long messages into smaller logical chunks
> * Avoid unnecessary repetition or verbose phrasing

> **Preserve Recent Messages Setting**
>
> * Adjust based on conversation type:
>   * Quick Q\&A: Lower number (3-5 messages)
>   * Complex discussions: Higher number (10-15 messages)
>   * Multi-step tasks: Medium number (5-10 messages)
> * Remember: Preserved messages are never pruned or summarized
> * Higher numbers mean more guaranteed context but less flexibility

> **Coordinating Target Summary Tokens with Max Context Tokens**
>
> * **Target Summary Tokens must always be less than Max Context Tokens** — the UI enforces this rule and will prevent saving if it is violated
> * A good rule of thumb: set Target Summary Tokens to roughly 5–10% of your Max Context Tokens value (e.g., 4,096 Target Summary Tokens with 64,000 Max Context Tokens)
> * Very small Target Summary Tokens values produce very short, possibly lossy summaries; very large values leave little room for active conversation context
> * Adjust based on how much detail you need preserved in summaries

### Troubleshooting

> **Context Budget Widget Not Visible**
>
> **Symptoms:**
>
> * Widget completely missing from the interface
> * No context management controls available
>
> **Diagnosis:**
>
> 1. Confirm you're viewing a supported interface (Chat, Agent, Pipeline)
> 2. Send at least one message — the widget only appears after the first message initiates a conversation
> 3. Check browser console for errors
>
> **Resolution:**
>
> 1. Ensure you have sent at least one message to start the conversation
> 2. Refresh the page and try again
> 3. If the issue persists, contact your administrator to check backend service health

> **Token Count Seems Inaccurate**
>
> **Symptoms:**
>
> * Displayed token count doesn't match expectations
> * Percentage bar doesn't align with message count
>
> **Explanation:**
>
> * Token counting uses tiktoken library with character-based fallback (\~4 chars per token)
> * Different message types have different token densities
> * System messages, role labels, and formatting add overhead
> * Tool calls include function definitions in token count
>
> **Resolution:**
>
> * Token counts are estimates and may vary slightly from actual LLM processing
> * Focus on relative changes (increasing/decreasing) rather than absolute accuracy
> * If consistently far off, contact administrator to check token estimation configuration

> **Summarization Not Occurring**
>
> **Symptoms:**
>
> * Summaries count does not increase even as context grows
> * Context continues to grow beyond expected limit
>
> **Possible Causes:**
>
> 1. Insufficient messages to summarize (all recent messages preserved)
> 2. LLM model configuration issue
> 3. Backend summarization disabled
>
> **Resolution:**
>
> 1. Check expanded view: Compare Messages vs Preserve Recent count
>    * If Messages ≤ Preserve Recent, summarization cannot occur
> 2. Verify LLM model is properly configured for text generation
> 3. Contact administrator to check backend context management configuration

> **Messages Disappearing Unexpectedly**
>
> **Symptoms:**
>
> * Messages from earlier in conversation no longer visible
> * Conversation feels disjointed or missing context
>
> **Explanation:**
>
> * This is expected behavior when pruning occurs
> * Messages are removed from context when token limit is approached
> * Pruned messages are not deleted, just removed from active context
>
> **Understanding:**
>
> 1. Automatic pruning removes oldest messages when the token limit is approached
> 2. Recent messages (per preserve\_recent\_messages) never disappear
>
> **If Unwanted:**
>
> * Increase max\_context\_tokens to reduce pruning frequency
> * Increase preserve\_recent\_messages to keep more messages

> **Settings Not Saving — Inline Validation Error**
>
> **Symptoms:**
>
> * Save button remains disabled
> * A field shows an inline red error message
>
> **Most Common Cause:**
>
> * **Target Summary Tokens is equal to or greater than Max Context Tokens** — the UI validation requires Target Summary Tokens to be strictly less than Max Context Tokens
> * Example error shown: `Must be less than Max Context Tokens (64000)`
>
> **Resolution:**
>
> 1. Open the Summarization accordion in the Context Management settings
> 2. Check the **Target Summary Tokens** value
> 3. Reduce it to a value less than **Max Context Tokens** (e.g., set to 4,096 when Max Context Tokens is 64,000)
> 4. The Save button will re-enable once all validation errors are cleared

> **Settings Not Saving — Toast Error After Submit**
>
> **Symptoms:**
>
> * A toast notification appears with the message: "Failed to update context strategy"
> * Settings appear to revert to previous values
>
> **Possible Causes:**
>
> 1. Network connectivity issue
> 2. API or backend service error
> 3. Session has expired
>
> **Resolution:**
>
> 1. Check your network connection and retry
> 2. Refresh the page and attempt to save again
> 3. If the problem persists, contact your administrator to check backend service health

> **Performance Issues**
>
> **Symptoms:**
>
> * Slow message sending or response times
> * UI lag when interacting with Context Budget widget
> * Browser becomes unresponsive
>
> **Possible Causes:**
>
> 1. Very high max\_context\_tokens causing expensive operations
> 2. Excessive message count in conversation
> 3. Frequent summarization operations
> 4. Browser memory limitations
>
> **Resolution:**
>
> 1. **Reduce max\_context\_tokens**:
>    * Lower values mean less context to process
>    * Typical range: 8,000 - 32,000 for optimal performance
> 2. **Start new conversation**:
>    * Very long conversations can accumulate state
>    * Consider starting fresh for new topics
> 3. **Check browser resources**:
>    * Close unnecessary tabs
>    * Ensure browser is up to date
>    * Clear browser cache if needed
> 4. **Contact administrator**:
>    * May need to adjust backend processing limits
>    * Could configure more aggressive pruning

## Budget Management

Unlike the token-based Context Budget above, these alerts track spend against your project's cost budget — the same budget shown in **Settings** > **Usage**.

### Cost Budget Warnings

As your project's cost budget — or your own share of it in a team project — approaches its limit, ELITEA shows a warning banner above the chat input, with three severity levels:

| Level | Appears at |
| - | - |
| Warning | 80% used |
| Elevated | 90% used |
| Critical | 95% used (last warning before requests are blocked) |

The banner names the budget that's affected: *"You have used X% of your budget."* (project budget, with a **View usage** link) or *"You have used X% of your budget in this project."* (your own share, with a **View my usage** link). If both are close to their limit, ELITEA shows the one that affects you specifically — your own budget takes priority.

You can dismiss a warning for the rest of the current billing period, but only up to the level you dismissed — crossing into the next level brings the banner back, and it also returns automatically at the start of the next billing period.

> [!NOTE]
>
> A Platform Admin can turn off dismissing entirely through the **Allow users to dismiss budget warnings** platform setting. When disabled, the banner stays until the budget resets.

### Blocked Requests

If a request is blocked because the project's cost budget — or your own share of it — is fully used, ELITEA shows a plain-language message in the chat instead of a generic "Unknown error":

* *"This project's budget has been reached. AI requests are unavailable until the budget resets or a project admin increases the limit."* (project budget, with a **View whole project usage** link)
* *"Your budget for this project has been reached. Your AI requests are unavailable until the budget resets or a project admin increases your limit."* (your own budget, with a **View my usage** link)

This message is saved as part of the conversation, so it is still shown if you refresh the page.


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