Unclear It is not clear what sets the enabled-and-enforced state, so setting the variables alone may not turn the limit on.
What
The context is the amount of conversation Claude can hold at once. Once it has filled up one time, reading PDF pages can now be limited:
CLAUDE_CODE_FILE_READ_MAX_PDF_PAGES_PER_MESSAGEsets how many pages each of Claude's messages may read. The caps only apply when this is set below the normal per-request page maximum.CLAUDE_CODE_FILE_READ_MAX_PDF_PAGES_PER_TURNsets the limit for a whole turn, with a built-in default if unset.- A per-session record must also say the feature is
enabledandenforced, with its threshold within bounds. - A read over the limit is refused with a message starting 'The context has filled up once already', telling Claude to read fewer pages or answer from what it has and say which pages it did not reach.
Before, the only limit was the maximum page range per single request.
Why
After a long PDF has already filled the context once, Claude is pushed to answer with what it has rather than keep re-reading pages and filling the context again.
Something disagreesSomething we can check disagrees with this entry, or the writer said they could not settle it.
The writer flagged doubt
It is not clear what sets the enabled-and-enforced state, so setting the variables alone may not turn the limit on.