❯ OpenAI raises GPT-6.1 Sol’s default context to 500,000 tokens, with no long-context fee for subscribers

Default raised by about 80%OpenAI’s Thibault Sottiaux announced on X on October 11 that the default context length for GPT-6.1 Sol, when used through Codex and ChatGPT Work, has gone from 272,000 tokens to 500,000 tokens, an increase of about 80%. Users can still set it higher or lower, up to a maximum of 1 million tokens. He also said long-context fees are not charged when usage is drawn from a subscription.

Fewer compactions, fewer lost detailsContext length determines how much a model can “remember” at once. On long tasks, when the conversation and code exceed the limit, the tool compacts earlier content into a summary and details can be lost. Sottiaux said the higher default reduces compactions and helps with tasks that need to keep a lot of context and nuance over time. He said the value was carefully tested, is the sweet spot for most users and will go higher in the future.

Day 7 of a 28-day pledgeThis is day 7 of an ongoing OpenAI commitment. According to a weekly roundup by X user @btibor91, OpenAI has pledged to ship one improvement to Codex and ChatGPT Work every day for 28 days, or give users a full usage reset on any day without one. Sottiaux also ran a poll on Pro plan allowances and said afterward he had expected users to favor 2x usage in exchange for bringing back 5-hour limits, and that the result confused him.

▮ SIGNALCompetition among coding tools has come down to how much code fits in one go and how allowances are counted; shipping an improvement a day has itself become a way to keep heavy users.