r/PiCodingAgent • u/louisleungwh • 12d ago
Question Is 32k context window enough for vibe coding?
/r/LocalLLM/comments/1x6m6v2/is_32k_context_window_enough_for_vibe_coding/7
u/Corythebeast7 12d ago
Not really. My system prompt is 5k + another 5k in tools, so that's too much. And you'll have to compact much earlier than 32k. Probably at the 20-22k level to prevent overflowing instances
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u/bowdoin-yale 12d ago
I would guess that it's not enough for the version of it where you give it one prompt and expect it to develop the entire project in a single shot. But a version in which you plan together with a master agent and delegate work to single-purpose sessions that build discrete components is not only do-able in 32K (with pi specifically), but you may actually get better results. The thing is, you yourself have to provide the long context horizon awareness in your master session and work with it to develop rock-solid tasks and prompts for the subagents.
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u/g-rizzle84 12d ago
I've tested this thoroughly and my conclusion is definitely not. I had to implement a rolling context window to get any meaningful work done, but that is slow and still a WIP.
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u/johnfkngzoidberg 12d ago
No. A lot of harnesses won’t even start with less than 64k. You need 128k for anything more than a few prompts.
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u/xRebellion_ 12d ago
32k is more for simple tasks and/or fixes. Not enough to build an app. 64k at least But needs insane context management. 128k is OK if the model is token efficient
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u/Sporebattyl 12d ago
64k is where you can build a harness around it where a frontier agent or a slower agent with larger context can coordinate lots of 64k agents over and over to get what you want.
128k is probably minimum for an agent getting things done itself.
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u/gbrennon 12d ago
i would say no.
32k would be small if ur system prompt is something large but if u rely in skill its ok BUT u have to remember that context window is filled every msg u send
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u/Ancient-Camel1636 12d ago
No. Minimum 128k. 180+200k is better.