context window (noun)
The total token capacity a given AI model can hold in a single exchange. This is the hard technical ceiling set by the model itself, distinct from the token budget a person or organization chooses to actually spend within it. A model may be capable of far more than a given task uses.
Note: context window sits more naturally in the broader AI infrastructure glossary than in the token-economics family — it's included here because of its close working relationship with token budget, and will be cross-referenced rather than duplicated once that section exists.
Example: "The model's context window could hold the whole contract, but we only fed it the clauses relevant to the negotiation."
Related: token budget, token, model, context