Make context usage quiet by default or threshold-based

[ktwu01]

Summary

Migrated/adapted from MoonshotAI/kimi-cli#2291 for Kimi Code CLI.

A constantly changing context/token indicator can become visual noise in the terminal UI. Most of the time, users do not need to watch the number update continuously; they only need the information when they ask for it or when usage is high enough to require action.

Suggested behavior

Consider making context usage quieter by default:

• Show detailed context usage on demand through /context, /usage, or /status.
• Keep the footer/status indicator stable unless usage crosses a meaningful threshold.
• Show a warning at high usage, for example 80% or 90%, when the user may need to compact/summarize.
• Avoid rapidly updating token counts in the normal prompt/footer if they cause flicker.

Why it matters

A terminal agent should keep attention on the conversation and tool progress. Context usage is useful operational data, but it is usually not the primary task. Making it threshold-based or on-demand would keep the UI calmer without removing the information.

Related

• Original kimi-cli request: Remove constantly-updating context usage indicator from UI kimi-cli#2291
• Existing kimi-code /context breakdown request: Show a real context-usage breakdown (/context) and reflect the always-sent baseline in the indicator #524
• Earlier footer usage discussion: feat(tui): persistent usage indicator in footer #43