{"meta":{"title":"Optimize GitHub Copilot Chat context to reduce AI credit usage","intro":"Keep Copilot Chat responses focused and reduce AI credits usage by knowing when to continue a conversation and when to start a new one.","product":"GitHub Copilot","breadcrumbs":[{"href":"/en/enterprise-cloud@latest/copilot","title":"GitHub Copilot"},{"href":"/en/enterprise-cloud@latest/copilot/tutorials","title":"Tutorials"},{"href":"/en/enterprise-cloud@latest/copilot/tutorials/optimize-chat-usage","title":"Optimize Chat usage"}],"documentType":"article"},"body":"# Optimize GitHub Copilot Chat context to reduce AI credit usage\n\nKeep Copilot Chat responses focused and reduce AI credits usage by knowing when to continue a conversation and when to start a new one.\n\n## Continue a conversation when the context is still relevant\n\nContinue the same conversation when your next prompt depends on earlier messages. For example:\n\n* You're refining code that Copilot already generated.\n* You're debugging the same error across multiple prompts.\n* You're iterating on one design, test plan, or implementation approach.\n\nKeeping related prompts together helps Copilot keep the right context and reduces repetition.\n\n## Start a new conversation when you switch tasks\n\nStart a new conversation when your next prompt is about a different problem. For example:\n\n* You finished one feature and are starting another.\n* You're moving from coding work to documentation or release work.\n* The existing thread contains context that no longer applies.\n\nStarting fresh helps Copilot focus on your new goal.\n\n## Understand how conversation length affects AI credits usage\n\nEach prompt in Copilot Chat is processed with your new message and relevant context, such as conversation history, selected files, and tool results.\n\nLonger threads can require more context to be processed for each new prompt. More processed context can increase token usage, which can increase AI credits usage.\n\n## Further reading\n\n* [Optimizing your AI usage to maximize efficiency and reduce cost](/en/enterprise-cloud@latest/copilot/tutorials/optimize-ai-usage)\n* [Best practices for using GitHub Copilot](/en/enterprise-cloud@latest/copilot/get-started/best-practices)"}