[BUG] Skill description budget uses base context, ignores [1m] extension
Preflight Checklist
- [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
- [x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
- [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code
What's Wrong?
## Summary
Skill description budget is capped at 2% of context window per the 2.1.x changelog, but on
claude-opus-4-7[1m] the budget appears to be computed against the base 200K context (~4,000
chars), not the 1M extension (~20,000 chars). This causes heavy skill truncation for paid 1M-context
users.
## Repro
- Model:
claude-opus-4-7[1m](1M context add-on) - Claude Code: 2.1.133
- ~60 SKILL.md files, ~11,200 chars total description text
- Result: "32 skill descriptions dropped" on session start
11,200 chars fits comfortably in 20,000 (2% of 1M) but blows past 4,000 (2% of 200K). The math is
consistent with the budget being calculated off the base model context, ignoring the [1m] flag.
## Workaround
Archive skills or shorten descriptions to fit the 4K budget — defeats the point of paying for 1M
context.
What Should Happen?
## Expected
1M-context users get the 1M-scaled budget (~20K chars), so paid extended-context plans don't get
throttled on skill auto-routing.
Error Messages/Logs
See previous
Steps to Reproduce
Constant
Claude Model
Opus
Is this a regression?
Yes, this worked in a previous version
Last Working Version
Claude Opus prior to 04/30/26
Claude Code Version
2.1.133
Platform
Anthropic API
Operating System
macOS
Terminal/Shell
Terminal.app (macOS)
Additional Information
_No response_
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