| name | context-xray |
| description | Inspect and manage the live agent context window with Context X-Ray. Use when context is getting large, the user asks what is in context, or stale tool results/files should be pinned, evicted, restored, or reported by an external host. |
| metadata | {"internal":true} |
Context X-Ray
Context X-Ray is the framework's context garbage-collection surface. It shows
the current thread's model-bound context as content-derived segments with token
counts, then lets the user or agent pin, evict, or restore individual segments.
Actions
| Action | When to use |
|---|
context-manifest-get | Read the current manifest for a thread. Returns token totals, segment status, source, and whether changes are enforceable. |
context-preview-get | Compose the would-be system context for the current user/org/app without a live thread. Returns labeled system sections with provenance, governance tier, token counts, and bounded previews. Backs the Agent page Context tab. |
context-pin | Preserve a segment across future compaction/model calls. Use for task specs, acceptance criteria, user constraints, and other durable context. |
context-evict | Exclude a stale or irrelevant segment from future model calls. Eviction is reversible and never deletes chat history. |
context-restore | Undo a pin, evict, or summarize directive for a segment. |
context-report | External hosts can report their visible context inventory. These manifests are advisory unless Agent-Native owns the emitted content. |
System Sections
Manifests now cover the system-prompt half of context, not just conversation
segments. Each system section carries a provenance label (framework-core,
actions-prompt, template, enterprise-workspace-core, sql-workspace,
legacy-app-default, organization, personal, memory, db-schema, tools,
model-overlay, runtime-context) and a governance tier:
required — framework/enterprise policy; can never be altered by the user.inherited — template/org/workspace instructions; managed elsewhere,
visible here.user — personal instructions and memory; editable through Files.
System sections are display-only provenance: they cannot be pinned, evicted,
or summarized. The persisted manifest stores source refs, scope, content
hashes, token counts, and bounded previews (~200 chars) — never raw prompt
bodies; full content stays behind the resource/access model. The in-chat
X-Ray panel groups these under "System", and the Agent page Context tab
renders the full breakdown (via context-preview-get) with a
system-vs-conversation split meter. Manifests are the latest snapshot per
thread; there is no per-iteration history.
Rules
- Never evict or summarize protected segments. The manifest marks active-turn
user/tool/thinking context as
protected.
- System sections are never evictable; required/inherited tiers are locked by
design — do not present controls that imply otherwise.
- Prefer pinning the user's task, requirements, and decisions before evicting
large stale tool results.
- Eviction excludes content from future model calls; it does not delete the
canonical transcript or files.
- In external/advisory mode, be honest: recorded directives are intent for the
host except for Agent-Native-originated content we can actually withhold.
- If token counts are estimated, describe reclaim as approximate.
Typical Flow
- Call
context-manifest-get with the active threadId.
- Sort segments by
tokenCount and inspect large stale Tool results or
Files read entries.
- Call
context-pin for essential specs or user instructions.
- Call
context-evict for large irrelevant segments.
- Offer
context-restore if the user wants undo.
