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No.158 · AI & Chat

Context Meter

How full the model's context window is, and with what: one bar split by instructions, files, conversation and tools, warning near the limit and squeezing on compact.

The prompt

The design brief behind this component — reuse it to regenerate, remix, or explain it.

Build a context-window meter for an AI chat. One 14px pill track shows the window (200k tokens) with segments for what's using it — Instructions, Files, Conversation, Tool results — each in a fixed series colour from a colour-blind-checked palette, separated by 2px gaps, widths animating (650ms, ease-out) whenever they change. A thin tick marks 90%. Above it: the used total as a large tabular number over the limit, and a percentage that turns amber past 75% and red past 90%, where the track also gets a slow pulsing red ring. Hovering a segment (or its legend row) dims the others and the hint line explains it ("Files: 38.4k tokens (34% of what's used)"); otherwise the hint describes the state ("Plenty of room", "Getting full…", "Almost full — compact to keep going"). Buttons add a file or a long reply; Compact squeezes the bar (a quick vertical squash with desaturation) and replaces the conversation with a summary about 8% of its size and trims tool results. The track is a role="meter" with a full text value.

Notes

Interaction
Hover segments or legend rows to see what's using the context; add a file or a long reply, then Compact to summarise.
Motion
Segment widths 650ms; compact squash 650ms; warning ring pulses every 1.6s past 90%.
Accessibility
The bar is role="meter" with aria-valuenow/max and a valuetext listing every segment; the hint is a polite live region; the legend repeats every colour with its label. Reduced motion removes the transitions and pulse.
Responsive
A card up to about 40rem wide that fills narrower screens; dense rows and side columns stack on phones.
On touch
Everything is tap-driven; hover hints have tap or focus equivalents.

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