Claude does the same when you hit the context limit, but the difference is that claude's context limit is 1m and Codex's is 272k now. Claude lets you get a lot more done before you have to worry about the start getting compacted away.
That used to be one of the major issues why clearing or compacting context when the context nears 150 to 170k is usually preferred.
I don't think I've ever pushed past 500k though, it may well fall apart at the higher end of what is officially supported.
It really depends on the session, and what you are doing how far you can push it.