What is Context Gateway?

Context Gateway is a lightweight binary that sits between your AI agent—like Claude Code, Cursor, or OpenClaw—and the LLM API. Its job is to compress conversation history in the background before you ever hit a context limit. Instead of waiting for compaction when your chat gets long, Context Gateway pre-computes summaries so the compression happens instantly. The result: lower latency, reduced token spend, and no more interruptions mid-workflow.

Who it's for

• Claude Code users who want to keep long coding sessions snappy without manually trimming history or hitting token ceilings.
• Cursor IDE developers running extended agent-assisted workflows who need automatic context optimization without leaving their editor.
• OpenClaw adopters looking for an open-source-friendly way to compress tool output while preserving the important context their agent relies on.

Key features

Instant background compaction

Context Gateway pre-computes summaries of your conversation history as you go. When the conversation reaches a configurable trigger threshold (default: 75% of context), compaction happens in the background—so you never wait for it. The result is a seamless, uninterrupted experience.

One-minute setup via TUI wizard

After installing the binary with a single curl command, an interactive TUI wizard walks you through selecting your agent (Claude Code, Cursor, OpenClaw, or custom), configuring the summarizer model and API key, enabling Slack notifications if desired, and setting the compression trigger threshold. No manual config files to wrestle with.

Transparent compaction logs

You can inspect exactly what's happening under the hood by checking logs/history_compaction.jsonl. This gives you full visibility into when and how history is being compressed, so you're never in the dark about what your agent is seeing.

What stands out

"Compaction happens instantly because the summary was pre-computed in the background."

This is the core insight that sets Context Gateway apart. Most context management tools force you to wait while they crunch through your entire conversation history. Context Gateway flips that model: it continuously builds summaries in the background, so when a compression event triggers, there's zero delay. The result is a dramatically smoother experience for anyone running long agent sessions.

Worth checking out if…

You're using Claude Code, Cursor, or OpenClaw and want to cut token costs and latency without sacrificing the context your agent needs. If you've ever been stuck waiting for a conversation to compact, or you're tired of manually trimming history to stay under limits, Context Gateway is a drop-in fix that takes less than a minute to set up.