Need ability to selectively remove images from context without full compaction

Resolved 💬 6 comments Opened Mar 22, 2026 by valllabh Closed Apr 20, 2026

Environment:

  • Platform: darwin
  • Terminal: Apple_Terminal
  • Version: 2.1.81
  • Model: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context)
  • Feedback ID: 92bba761-d803-42e8-9fe2-a03fe9ddda9b

Description:
The error "An image in the conversation exceeds the dimension limit for many-image requests (2000px)" appears even at low context usage (10-25%). The only available workaround is /compact, which discards the entire conversation context, not just the problematic images.

Steps to Reproduce:

  1. Start a session with significant context (code, plans, discussion)
  2. Read/view multiple screenshots or images during iterative work (e.g., reviewing UI changes)
  3. After a few images, the dimension limit error triggers despite low context consumption (10-25%)

Expected Behavior:
Users should be able to selectively remove specific images from context while preserving the rest of the conversation (code context, decisions, discussion history).

Actual Behavior:
The only option is /compact, which compresses the entire context. This causes loss of important conversation state that has nothing to do with the images.

Impact:
High impact for iterative visual workflows. When modifying a UI and repeatedly viewing updated screenshots, the context fills with stale images quickly. Running /compact to clear them destroys valuable non-image context, breaking the workflow.

Proposed Solution:
Add a mechanism to selectively remove images/files from context. For example:

  • A command like /remove-image [index] or /clear-images to drop images while preserving text context
  • Auto expire older images when newer versions of the same file are viewed

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