OpenClaw silently compresses context and loses work
When history exceeds the context window, OpenClaw silently compresses older messages into a summary, destroying active task state so the agent starts hallucinating or repeating itself. Set maxContextTokens to roughly 80% of the model's limit for headroom, pin critical instructions with [PINNED] tags so they survive, set compactMessageCount: -1 to disable auto-compaction, and mount a persistent volume for memory.
Likely cause
When history exceeds the context window, OpenClaw silently compresses older messages into a summary, destroying active task state so the agent starts to hallucinate or repeat itself.
The fix
- 1 Set maxContextTokens to about 80% of the model's limit so compaction has headroom.
- 2 Pin critical instructions with [PINNED] tags so they survive compaction.
- 3 Set compactMessageCount: -1 to disable auto-compaction, and mount a persistent volume for memory.
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Frequently asked questions
My agent suddenly forgets the task and repeats steps. What happened?
It likely hit the context window and OpenClaw silently compacted older messages into a summary, dropping the active task state. Pin the key instructions and leave headroom with maxContextTokens so compaction doesn't destroy live work.
How do I keep critical instructions from being summarized away?
Wrap them in [PINNED] tags. Pinned content survives compaction, so the agent keeps the goal and constraints even after older history is compressed.
Can I just turn auto-compaction off?
Yes - set compactMessageCount: -1 to disable it, but then you must keep sessions under the context limit yourself. Pair it with a persistent volume so long-term memory lives outside the window.
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