Glossary
What is truncation?
Cutting supplied text so it fits the model's limits.
When the material exceeds the context window, something has to go. Truncation decides what, and doing it deliberately beats letting it happen silently.
Sensible strategies keep the opening of each document, where the thesis usually sits, and cap per-document length so one long page cannot crowd out the rest.
Telling the model that a document was truncated stops it from claiming the missing part said nothing.
In practice
Capping each page at a fixed character budget keeps a ten-tab batch balanced instead of dominated by one long page.
Common questions
- What does truncation mean in one sentence?
- Cutting supplied text so it fits the model's limits.
- Why does truncation matter when you use Claude or ChatGPT?
- Telling the model that a document was truncated stops it from claiming the missing part said nothing.
- Can you give an example of truncation?
- Capping each page at a fixed character budget keeps a ten-tab batch balanced instead of dominated by one long page.
Related terms
- Context windowThe amount of text an AI assistant can hold in mind during a single conversation.
- TokenThe unit an AI model counts text in, usually a few characters long.
- Readable content extractionPulling the main article text out of a page and discarding the furniture.
- Glossary indexEvery AI context term, defined in plain language.
Get LocalBridge
One click sends your open tabs into Claude or ChatGPT. One-time licence, no subscription.
See how it works