Long Story Short After using tools like Playwright MCP that can return large tool results, continuing to work with that context still in the session can make subsequent processing heavier. Since then, when I finish testing with Playwright MCP and do not need that context for the next task, I use /clear. My rule is simple: “Will I need this context for the next task?”
What confused me was that my plan usage still had plenty of room, while the additional usage credits I had configured had already reached their limit.
After looking into it, I realized that Fable usage was what had caused me to go beyond the included usage and consume additional credits.
Until then, I had been using Claude Code every day without paying much attention to what was actually driving my usage.
So I started looking more closely at /usage and reviewing how I had been working.
That did not mean Playwright MCP itself was the reason I had exceeded my usage limit.
Rather, it made me notice how much context could accumulate during browser testing, and how that context could continue to affect subsequent work if I kept using the same session.
After finishing a test with Playwright MCP, if I do not need that context for the next task, I use /clear.
It works with the context needed for the current task, including previous conversation history, files it has read, and tool results.
The larger the context is, the heavier it can become to keep processing within that context.
At first, I thought these were three separate problems: My context was too large I was using too many subagents Playwright MCP was expensive
But after looking at how I had been working, they seemed more connected than I initially thought.
When using Playwright MCP for E2E checks, I repeatedly do things like: Open a page Inspect elements Click a button Fill in a form Check the state after navigation Fix something and try again if necessary
For Claude to understand the browser state, relatively large tool results can be added to the context during these interactions.
But after repeating them several times, browser-related context can accumulate quickly.
much of the information generated during the Playwright session has already served its purpose.
But if I continue using the same session, I also continue working with that context.
For example: Implement a feature Verify it with Playwright MCP Confirm that it works Start implementing another feature