diff --git a/src/agent/runner.rs b/src/agent/runner.rs
index 992765a..aee7cdf 100644
--- a/src/agent/runner.rs
+++ b/src/agent/runner.rs
@@ -195,8 +195,9 @@ impl Agent {
             .map(|e| count(&e.content)).sum();
         let mem_tokens: usize = self.context.loaded_nodes.iter()
             .map(|node| count(&node.render())).sum();
-        let conv_tokens: usize = self.context.messages.iter()
+        let total_conv: usize = self.context.messages.iter()
             .map(|m| crate::agent::context::msg_token_count(&self.tokenizer, m)).sum();
+        let conv_tokens = total_conv.saturating_sub(mem_tokens);
 
         self.context_budget = ContextBudget {
             identity_tokens: id_tokens,
@@ -485,7 +486,7 @@ impl Agent {
             
             // Re-render the context message so the model sees the updated stack
             if !result.starts_with("Error:") {
-                self.refresh_context_message();
+                self.refresh_context_state();
             }
             return;
         }
@@ -827,14 +828,9 @@ impl Agent {
         dbg_log!("[journal] context.journal now has {} entries", self.context.journal.len());
     }
 
-    /// Re-render the context message in self.context.messages from live ContextState.
     /// Called after any change to context state (working stack, etc).
-    fn refresh_context_message(&mut self) {
-        let rendered = self.context.render_context_message();
-        // The context message is the first user message (index 1, after system prompt)
-        if self.context.messages.len() >= 2 && self.context.messages[1].role == Role::User {
-            self.context.messages[1] = Message::user(rendered);
-        }
+    fn refresh_context_state(&mut self) {
+        self.measure_budget();
         self.publish_context_state();
         self.save_working_stack();
     }