Explore the context window

A faithful clone of the interactive context-window timeline from the Claude Code docs. Press Start sessionand watch what loads into Claude's context, what each step costs, and what you actually see in your terminal.

This interactive timeline works best on a larger screen. View the original docs page at code.claude.com/docs/en/context-window.

A simulated session showing what enters context and what it costs

~0tokens

/ 200K · illustrative

System

CLAUDE.md

Memory

Skills

MCP

Rules

You

Files

Output

Claude

Hooks

= appears in your terminal

$claude

Watch what loads into context, from the moment you run claude through a full conversation.

👁

Hover or click any event

Hover to preview. Click to pin so you can scroll.

Key takeaway

A lot loads before you type anything. CLAUDE.md, memory, skills, and MCP tools are all in context before your first prompt.

In your terminal you see

The input box, waiting for your first message. Everything above loads silently before you type anything.

Explore the context window

200,000 tokens, one second at a time.