Context Management — Agent Comparison
title: Context Management — Agent Comparison
authors:
name: Vadim Rudakov
email: rudakow
architecture
agents
options:
version: 1.1.1
birth: ‘2026-04-05’
type: guide
token_size: 2027
Context Management — Agent Comparison ¶ All analyses based on source code inspection dated 2026-04-08.
Decision Guide: Which Agent for Which Use Case ¶ Need Best Fit Why Long sessions, large repos Claude Code 5-tier system + 1M context option + server-side editing Multi-provider flexibility OpenClaude 200+ LLM providers with same 5-tier system Git-centric workflow Aider Git history as session record, commit-per-change Privacy (local-only) OpenClaw Configurable sliding window, no cloud dependency Multi-session work KiloCode Agent Manager with VS Code panel + git worktrees Fast startup, simple OpenCode Reactive compaction, clean SQLite storage Gemini/GCP ecosystem Qwen-Code Deep Gemini integration, JSON L crash recovery
Version Tracking ¶ Universal Pattern: Full History Every Call ¶ All 7 agents send the full conversation history on every API call. There is no chunking, no delta updates, no server-side session persistence. The entire message array is serialized and sent with each chat.completions.create() request.
Agent History Sent Evidence Qwen-Code Full curated Content[] geminiChat.ts: contents: requestContentsAider Full assembled context base_coder.py: format_chat_chunks() → all_messages()OpenClaw Full sanitized history attempt.ts: sanitize → validate → limitHistoryTurns() → sendOpenCode Full non-compacted history prompt.ts: filterCompactedEffect() → toModelMessages()KiloCode Full non-compacted history prompt.ts: filterCompacted() → toModelMessages()Claude Code Full normalized history messages.ts: normalizeMessagesForAPI() → queryModelWithStreaming()OpenClaude Full normalized history messages.ts: normalizeMessagesForAPI() → multi-provider routing
Context Window Defaults ¶ Agent Default Max Source Qwen-Code 128K 1M (Qwen3-coder-plus) Regex matching on model name (tokenLimits.ts) Aider From LiteLLM registry Varies by model LiteLLM model_prices_and_context_window.json OpenClaw 200K Configurable per-model DEFAULT_CONTEXT_TOKENS constantOpenCode From model config Varies by model model.limit.context fieldKiloCode From model config Varies by model model.limit.context fieldClaude Code 200K 1M ([1m] suffix) MODEL_CONTEXT_WINDOW_DEFAULT, env var overrideOpenClaude 200K 1M ([1m] suffix + 200+ providers) MODEL_CONTEXT_WINDOW_DEFAULT, OpenAI registry
Overflow Detection ¶ Agent Pre-emptive Reactive Qwen-Code Token count ≥ 70% of window Error retry (up to 10×, 60s delay) Aider Pre-send token count check ContextWindowExceededError from LiteLLM OpenClaw contextTokenBudget comparison40+ provider error patterns matched OpenCode Token count ≥ context − 20K 15+ provider error pattern regexes KiloCode Token count ≥ context − 20K Provider error matching Claude Code Hybrid: real API usage + estimate 15+ patterns + ContextOverflowError type OpenClaude Hybrid: real API usage + estimate Multi-provider error matching + Haiku fallback
Compaction Strategy Comparison ¶ Agent Primary Method Trigger Keeps Qwen-Code AI summarization (separate LLM call)70% usage Last 30% of conversation Aider Async LLM summarization of done_messages > 1/16th of context (max 8192) Tail messages (recent half) OpenClaw Sliding window + pi-coding-agent auto-compact Configurable N turns + budget Last N user turns OpenCode Dedicated compaction agent (no tools) Token ≥ context − 20K Everything after compaction marker KiloCode Dedicated compaction agent (no tools) Token ≥ context − 20K Everything after compaction marker Claude Code 5-tier: microcompact → API editing → session memory → full → PTL retry Token ≥ context − 13K Recent messages (prefix-preserving) OpenClaude 5-tier (Claude Code inherited) + JSON L persistence Token ≥ context − 13K Recent messages (prefix-preserving)
Agent Strategy Limits Qwen-Code No explicit truncation None found Aider Repo map dynamic sizing Budgeted from context window OpenClaw Tool result truncation (last resort) Overflow recovery fallback OpenCode Per-output truncation + pruning 2000 lines / 50KB; prune > 40K back KiloCode Per-output truncation + pruning 2000 lines / 50KB; prune > 40K back Claude Code Server-side cache_edits + content clearing Count-based thresholds from GrowthBook OpenClaude Server-side cache_edits + content clearing Count-based thresholds from GrowthBook
Content Filtering ¶ Agent Images/Documents/Thoughts Qwen-Code thought: true parts stripped from historyAider N/A (code-focused, no image support) OpenClaw Strips images during sanitization OpenCode Stripped during compaction → [Attached mime: filename] KiloCode Stripped during compaction → [Attached mime: filename] Claude Code Stripped during compaction → [image] / [document] OpenClaude Stripped during compaction → [image] / [document]
Persistence ¶ Agent Storage Qwen-Code Append-only JSON L event logs (~/.qwen/tmp/...) Aider JSON L session file + git historyOpenClaw JSON L session file (SessionManager from pi-coding-agent)OpenCode SQLite (MessageTable + PartTable) KiloCode SQLite (MessageTable + PartTable) Claude Code In-memory Message[] array OpenClaude In-memory Message[] + global history.jsonl (cross-project)
Unique Innovations ¶ Agent Innovation Qwen-Code Tree-structured JSON L with uuid/parentUuid enabling branching and checkpointing Aider Background async summarization that doesn’t block the main conversation loop OpenClaw Pluggable ContextEngine interface with legacy + custom implementations OpenCode Structured summary template (Goal/Instructions/Discoveries/Accomplished/Files) KiloCode Nearly identical to OpenCode (shared codebase — KiloCode is a fork) Claude Code Server-side cache editing via Anthropic API ; background session memory agent that continuously maintains a summary file OpenClaude 200+ LLM provider support with same 5-tier system; cross-project JSON L history persistence