Long outputs and images

A long chat has to stay inside what the model can read. When a chat fills, DataMind Oda makes room in two ways: it shortens very long tool outputs, and it leaves the oldest images out of what it sends. Both change only the request; the chat keeps everything. For how a long chat is kept going overall, see Long chats and compaction.

Shortening a very long output

A tool result is what a step handed back to Oda: a file's text, a search's matches, or a command's output.

• When the chat needs room, Oda can shorten an oversized result. What the model receives keeps the result's start and its end, with the marker [... tool result middle pruned ...] where the middle was removed.
• The count is in characters, not tokens. The two are different measures, so Oda measures the request again after shortening to decide what comes next.
• Only the text is measured and changed. Images and other content inside the result keep their places, and the tool call, its errors and its step details stay as they were.
• A result is shortened only when the chat has reached the point where Oda makes room. Below that point nothing is touched, and the shortening itself makes no model call.
• When the shortened results have already freed enough room, that round needs no summary of the older conversation.
• The full original stays in the chat log on this computer, so nothing is lost; later requests carry the shortened form. Chat logs on disk shows where the log lives.

Images the request cannot carry

A model takes only so many images, or so many bytes of images, in one request. When a request carries more than the model can take, Oda leaves the oldest images out and sends the request again.

• Each image left out is replaced, for the model, by a short note. The note names the image and gives the path of a read-only copy on this computer, when one is available, so Oda can read the picture again when a task needs it.
• Leaving an image out is permanent for that chat. A larger limit, a different model or a later shortening round does not bring it back; even a limit that was only tight for a moment leaves the images out for good.
• The choice stays with the chat: reopening or continuing it later does not return those images to the model.
• The chat keeps every image you attached, and nothing in the chat's record is rewritten. Only what Oda sends changes.
• When nothing is left to leave out and the request still will not fit, the request fails and the turn reports an error.

A model that accepts text only

When the model of a chat accepts text only, no limit has to be crossed: every picture in the request becomes a short note instead, and the note is the same every time.

• The note changes only what the model receives. The chat keeps the image, and nothing already in the chat is rewritten.
• The exact note, and everything else a request carries, is on Attachments in model requests.

Questions, answered

Why did the middle of a long output disappear?

The chat needed room, so Oda shortened the oversized result: what the model receives holds the result's start and end, with the marker [... tool result middle pruned ...] where the middle was removed. A chat that has not reached that point keeps its results untouched.

Is the removed text gone for good?

No. The full original stays in the chat log on this computer; only what the model receives is shortened. Chat logs on disk shows where the log lives.

Is the shortening measured in characters or in tokens?

In characters. The two are different measures, so after shortening Oda measures the request again to decide what comes next.

Why did an old image in my chat turn into a note?

The request carried more images, or more image bytes, than the model takes, so Oda left the oldest ones out and sent the request again. Each one is replaced by a note that names it and gives the path of a read-only copy when one is available. The images stay in the chat.

Can Oda still read a picture it left out?

Yes, when a copy is available: the note gives the path of a read-only copy on this computer, and Oda can read the picture again from there when a task needs it.

Will my images be sent again later?

No. An image left out stays out: a larger limit, a different model or a later shortening round does not bring it back, and reopening or continuing the chat does not either. Your copy stays in the chat.

What if the request still will not fit?

When nothing is left to leave out, the request fails and the turn reports an error. How calls fail and retry is on Model calls and failures.

What happens with a text-only model?

Every picture becomes a short note instead, the same note every time; the note changes only what that model receives. The chat keeps the image, and nothing already in the chat is rewritten. The exact note is on Attachments in model requests.

Does any of this change the chat itself?

No. The chat keeps its record: its messages, its tool results and every image you attached. Shortening and leaving images out change only what Oda sends to the model, and the full originals stay in the chat log.