diff --git a/cli.py b/cli.py
index dcd97139809..63f7e31096f 100644
--- a/cli.py
+++ b/cli.py
@@ -4958,20 +4958,22 @@ class HermesCLI:
         if os.environ.get("HERMES_DEFER_AGENT_STARTUP") != "1":
             self._show_tool_availability_warnings()
 
-        # Warn about very low context lengths (common with local servers)
-        if ctx_len and ctx_len <= 8192:
+        # Warn about low context lengths (common with local servers). Keep
+        # this tied to the runtime guard so guidance cannot drift again.
+        from agent.model_metadata import MINIMUM_CONTEXT_LENGTH
+        if ctx_len and ctx_len < MINIMUM_CONTEXT_LENGTH:
             self._console_print()
             self._console_print(
                 f"[yellow]⚠️  Context length is only {ctx_len:,} tokens — "
                 f"this is likely too low for agent use with tools.[/]"
             )
             self._console_print(
-                "[dim]   Hermes needs 16k–32k minimum. Tool schemas + system prompt alone use ~4k–8k.[/]"
+                f"[dim]   Hermes needs at least {MINIMUM_CONTEXT_LENGTH:,} tokens. Tool schemas + system prompt use a large fixed prefix.[/]"
             )
             base_url = getattr(self, "base_url", "") or ""
             if "11434" in base_url or "ollama" in base_url.lower():
                 self._console_print(
-                    "[dim]   Ollama fix: OLLAMA_CONTEXT_LENGTH=32768 ollama serve[/]"
+                    f"[dim]   Ollama fix: OLLAMA_CONTEXT_LENGTH={MINIMUM_CONTEXT_LENGTH} ollama serve[/]"
                 )
             elif "1234" in base_url:
                 self._console_print(
diff --git a/tests/cli/test_cli_context_warning.py b/tests/cli/test_cli_context_warning.py
index bf0c5aac43a..3a2b404bda1 100644
--- a/tests/cli/test_cli_context_warning.py
+++ b/tests/cli/test_cli_context_warning.py
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ from unittest.mock import MagicMock, patch
 
 import pytest
 
+from agent.model_metadata import MINIMUM_CONTEXT_LENGTH
+
 
 @pytest.fixture
 def _isolate(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
@@ -44,17 +46,18 @@ def cli_obj(_isolate):
 class TestLowContextWarning:
     """Tests that the CLI warns about low context lengths."""
 
-    def test_no_warning_for_normal_context(self, cli_obj):
-        """No warning when context is 32k+."""
+    def test_warning_for_below_minimum_context(self, cli_obj):
+        """Warning shown when context is below Hermes' minimum."""
         cli_obj.agent.context_compressor.context_length = 32768
         with patch("cli.get_tool_definitions", return_value=[]), \
              patch("cli.build_welcome_banner"):
             cli_obj.show_banner()
 
-        # Check that no yellow warning was printed
         calls = [str(c) for c in cli_obj.console.print.call_args_list]
         warning_calls = [c for c in calls if "too low" in c]
-        assert len(warning_calls) == 0
+        assert len(warning_calls) == 1
+        minimum_calls = [c for c in calls if f"{MINIMUM_CONTEXT_LENGTH:,}" in c]
+        assert minimum_calls
 
     def test_warning_for_low_context(self, cli_obj):
         """Warning shown when context is 4096 (Ollama default)."""
@@ -80,19 +83,19 @@ class TestLowContextWarning:
         assert len(warning_calls) == 1
 
     def test_no_warning_at_boundary(self, cli_obj):
-        """No warning at exactly 8192 — 8192 is borderline but included in warning."""
-        cli_obj.agent.context_compressor.context_length = 8192
+        """No warning at exactly Hermes' minimum context length."""
+        cli_obj.agent.context_compressor.context_length = MINIMUM_CONTEXT_LENGTH
         with patch("cli.get_tool_definitions", return_value=[]), \
              patch("cli.build_welcome_banner"):
             cli_obj.show_banner()
 
         calls = [str(c) for c in cli_obj.console.print.call_args_list]
         warning_calls = [c for c in calls if "too low" in c]
-        assert len(warning_calls) == 1  # 8192 is still warned about
+        assert len(warning_calls) == 0
 
     def test_no_warning_above_boundary(self, cli_obj):
-        """No warning at 16384."""
-        cli_obj.agent.context_compressor.context_length = 16384
+        """No warning above Hermes' minimum context length."""
+        cli_obj.agent.context_compressor.context_length = MINIMUM_CONTEXT_LENGTH + 1
         with patch("cli.get_tool_definitions", return_value=[]), \
              patch("cli.build_welcome_banner"):
             cli_obj.show_banner()
@@ -112,6 +115,7 @@ class TestLowContextWarning:
         calls = [str(c) for c in cli_obj.console.print.call_args_list]
         ollama_hints = [c for c in calls if "OLLAMA_CONTEXT_LENGTH" in c]
         assert len(ollama_hints) == 1
+        assert str(MINIMUM_CONTEXT_LENGTH) in ollama_hints[0]
 
     def test_lm_studio_specific_hint(self, cli_obj):
         """LM Studio-specific fix shown when port 1234 detected."""
diff --git a/website/docs/guides/local-llm-on-mac.md b/website/docs/guides/local-llm-on-mac.md
index 975ba6b12e1..9ac7bd9b97e 100644
--- a/website/docs/guides/local-llm-on-mac.md
+++ b/website/docs/guides/local-llm-on-mac.md
@@ -110,9 +110,9 @@ The `--cache-type-k q4_0 --cache-type-v q4_0` flags are the most important optim
 | q8_0 | ~8 GB |
 | **q4_0** | **~4 GB** |
 
-On an 8 GB Mac, use `q4_0` KV cache and reduce context to `-c 32768` (32K). On 16 GB, you can comfortably do 128K context. On 32 GB+, you can run larger models or multiple parallel slots.
+On an 8 GB Mac, use `q4_0` KV cache and choose a smaller model that can still fit Hermes' 64K minimum context. On 16 GB, you can comfortably do 128K context. On 32 GB+, you can run larger models or multiple parallel slots.
 
-If you're still running out of memory, reduce context size first (`-c`), then try a smaller quantization (Q3_K_M instead of Q4_K_M).
+If you're still running out of memory, reduce context only while staying at or above Hermes' 64K minimum; otherwise switch to a smaller model or smaller quantization (Q3_K_M instead of Q4_K_M).
 
 ### Test it
 
diff --git a/website/docs/guides/local-ollama-setup.md b/website/docs/guides/local-ollama-setup.md
index 9e2fab5e5de..188fbc99273 100644
--- a/website/docs/guides/local-ollama-setup.md
+++ b/website/docs/guides/local-ollama-setup.md
@@ -156,19 +156,19 @@ Switch models on the fly inside a session:
 
 ### Increase Ollama's Context Window
 
-By default, Ollama uses a 2048-token context. For agentic work (tool calls, long conversations), you need more:
+By default, Ollama uses a 2048-token context. Hermes requires at least 64,000 tokens for agentic work with tools:
 
 ```bash
 # Create a Modelfile that extends context
 cat > /tmp/Modelfile << 'EOF'
 FROM gemma4:31b
-PARAMETER num_ctx 16384
+PARAMETER num_ctx 64000
 EOF
 
-ollama create gemma4-16k -f /tmp/Modelfile
+ollama create gemma4-64k -f /tmp/Modelfile
 ```
 
-Then update your Hermes config to use `gemma4-16k` as the model name.
+Then update your Hermes config to use `gemma4-64k` as the model name.
 
 ### Keep the Model Loaded
 
@@ -311,7 +311,7 @@ Your only cost is electricity — roughly $0.01–0.05 per session depending on
 ## What's Better with Cloud Models
 
 - **Very complex multi-step reasoning** — 70B+ or cloud models like Claude Opus are noticeably better
-- **Long context windows** — cloud models offer 100K–1M tokens; local models are typically 8K–32K
+- **Long context windows** — cloud models offer 100K–1M tokens; local runtimes often default below Hermes' 64K minimum unless you configure them
 - **Speed on large responses** — cloud inference is faster than CPU-only local for long generations
 
 The sweet spot: use local for everyday tasks, set up a cloud fallback for the hard stuff.
diff --git a/website/docs/integrations/providers.md b/website/docs/integrations/providers.md
index 94880933656..9c51961c257 100644
--- a/website/docs/integrations/providers.md
+++ b/website/docs/integrations/providers.md
@@ -691,7 +691,7 @@ model:
   default: qwen2.5-coder:32b
   provider: custom
   base_url: http://localhost:11434/v1
-  context_length: 32768   # See warning below
+  context_length: 64000   # See warning below
 ```
 
 :::caution Ollama defaults to very low context lengths
@@ -703,22 +703,22 @@ Ollama does **not** use your model's full context window by default. Depending o
 | 24–48 GB | 32,768 tokens |
 | 48+ GB | 256,000 tokens |
 
-For agent use with tools, **you need at least 16k–32k context**. At 4k, the system prompt + tool schemas alone can fill the window, leaving no room for conversation.
+Hermes Agent requires at least **64,000 tokens** of context for agent use with tools. Smaller windows are rejected at startup because the system prompt, tool schemas, and working conversation state need enough room for reliable multi-step workflows.
 
 **How to increase it** (pick one):
 
 ```bash
 # Option 1: Set server-wide via environment variable (recommended)
-OLLAMA_CONTEXT_LENGTH=32768 ollama serve
+OLLAMA_CONTEXT_LENGTH=64000 ollama serve
 
 # Option 2: For systemd-managed Ollama
 sudo systemctl edit ollama.service
-# Add: Environment="OLLAMA_CONTEXT_LENGTH=32768"
+# Add: Environment="OLLAMA_CONTEXT_LENGTH=64000"
 # Then: sudo systemctl daemon-reload && sudo systemctl restart ollama
 
 # Option 3: Bake it into a custom model (persistent per-model)
-echo -e "FROM qwen2.5-coder:32b\nPARAMETER num_ctx 32768" > Modelfile
-ollama create qwen2.5-coder-32k -f Modelfile
+echo -e "FROM qwen2.5-coder:32b\nPARAMETER num_ctx 64000" > Modelfile
+ollama create qwen2.5-coder-64k -f Modelfile
 ```
 
 **You cannot set context length through the OpenAI-compatible API** (`/v1/chat/completions`). It must be configured server-side or via a Modelfile. This is the #1 source of confusion when integrating Ollama with tools like Hermes.
@@ -820,13 +820,13 @@ If responses seem truncated, add `max_tokens` to your requests or set `--default
 cmake -B build && cmake --build build --config Release
 ./build/bin/llama-server \
   --jinja -fa \
-  -c 32768 \
+  -c 64000 \
   -ngl 99 \
   -m models/qwen2.5-coder-32b-instruct-Q4_K_M.gguf \
   --port 8080 --host 0.0.0.0
 ```
 
-**Context length (`-c`):** Recent builds default to `0` which reads the model's training context from the GGUF metadata. For models with 128k+ training context, this can OOM trying to allocate the full KV cache. Set `-c` explicitly to what you need (32k–64k is a good range for agent use). If using parallel slots (`-np`), the total context is divided among slots — with `-c 32768 -np 4`, each slot only gets 8k.
+**Context length (`-c`):** Recent builds default to `0` which reads the model's training context from the GGUF metadata. For models with 128k+ training context, this can OOM trying to allocate the full KV cache. Set `-c` explicitly to at least 64,000 tokens for Hermes. If using parallel slots (`-np`), the total context is divided among slots — with `-c 64000 -np 4`, each slot only gets 16k, which is below Hermes' minimum per active session.
 
 Then configure Hermes to point at it:
 
@@ -862,7 +862,7 @@ Start the server from the LM Studio app (Developer tab → Start Server), or use
 
 ```bash
 lms server start                        # Starts on port 1234
-lms load qwen2.5-coder --context-length 32768
+lms load qwen2.5-coder --context-length 64000
 ```
 
 Then configure Hermes:
@@ -1044,7 +1044,7 @@ The model outputs something like `{"name": "web_search", "arguments": {...}}` as
 # vLLM: check --max-model-len in startup args
 ```
 
-**Fix:** Set context to at least **32,768 tokens** for agent use. See each server's section above for the specific flag.
+**Fix:** Set context to at least **64,000 tokens** for agent use. See each server's section above for the specific flag.
 
 #### "Context limit: 2048 tokens" at startup
 
@@ -1057,7 +1057,7 @@ model:
   default: your-model
   provider: custom
   base_url: http://localhost:11434/v1
-  context_length: 32768
+  context_length: 64000
 ```
 
 #### Responses get cut off mid-sentence
@@ -1198,7 +1198,7 @@ custom_providers:
     base_url: "http://localhost:11434/v1"
     models:
       qwen3.5:27b:
-        context_length: 32768
+        context_length: 64000
       deepseek-r1:70b:
         context_length: 65536
 ```
diff --git a/website/docs/reference/faq.md b/website/docs/reference/faq.md
index 20ea8b8997b..01bf783f5d4 100644
--- a/website/docs/reference/faq.md
+++ b/website/docs/reference/faq.md
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ hermes model
 # API base URL: http://localhost:11434/v1
 # API key: ollama
 # Model name: qwen3.5:27b
-# Context length: 32768   ← set this to match your server's actual context window
+# Context length: 64000   ← Hermes minimum; set this to match your server's actual context window
 ```
 
 Or configure it directly in `config.yaml`:
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ Hermes persists the endpoint, provider, and base URL in `config.yaml` so it surv
 This works with Ollama, vLLM, llama.cpp server, SGLang, LocalAI, and others. See the [Configuration guide](../user-guide/configuration.md) for details.
 
 :::tip Ollama users
-If you set a custom `num_ctx` in Ollama (e.g., `ollama run --num_ctx 16384`), make sure to set the matching context length in Hermes — Ollama's `/api/show` reports the model's *maximum* context, not the effective `num_ctx` you configured.
+If you set a custom `num_ctx` in Ollama (e.g., `ollama run --num_ctx 64000`), make sure to set the matching context length in Hermes — Ollama's `/api/show` reports the model's *maximum* context, not the effective `num_ctx` you configured.
 :::
 
 :::tip Timeouts with local models
@@ -340,7 +340,7 @@ custom_providers:
     base_url: "http://localhost:11434/v1"
     models:
       qwen3.5:27b:
-        context_length: 32768
+        context_length: 64000
 ```
 
 See [Context Length Detection](../integrations/providers.md#context-length-detection) for how auto-detection works and all override options.