diff --git a/extensions/void/src/common/sendLLMMessage.ts b/extensions/void/src/common/sendLLMMessage.ts
index 43800a27..c3feea76 100644
--- a/extensions/void/src/common/sendLLMMessage.ts
+++ b/extensions/void/src/common/sendLLMMessage.ts
@@ -39,6 +39,13 @@ type SendLLMMessageFnTypeExternal = (params: {
 
 
 
+const parseMaxTokensStr = (maxTokensStr: string) => {
+	// parse the string but only if the full string is a valid number, eg parseInt('100abc') should return NaN
+	let int = isNaN(Number(maxTokensStr)) ? undefined : parseInt(maxTokensStr)
+	if (Number.isNaN(int))
+		return undefined
+	return int
+}
 
 // Anthropic
 const sendAnthropicMsg: SendLLMMessageFnTypeInternal = ({ messages, onText, onFinalMessage, onError, voidConfig }) => {
@@ -113,9 +120,11 @@ const sendOpenAIMsg: SendLLMMessageFnTypeInternal = ({ messages, onText, onFinal
 	let openai: OpenAI
 	let options: OpenAI.Chat.Completions.ChatCompletionCreateParamsStreaming
 
+	let maxTokens = parseMaxTokensStr(voidConfig.default.maxTokens)
+
 	if (voidConfig.default.whichApi === 'openAI') {
 		openai = new OpenAI({ apiKey: voidConfig.openAI.apikey, dangerouslyAllowBrowser: true });
-		options = { model: voidConfig.openAI.model, messages: messages, stream: true, max_completion_tokens: parseInt(voidConfig.default.maxTokens) }
+		options = { model: voidConfig.openAI.model, messages: messages, stream: true, max_completion_tokens: maxTokens }
 	}
 	else if (voidConfig.default.whichApi === 'openRouter') {
 		openai = new OpenAI({
@@ -125,11 +134,11 @@ const sendOpenAIMsg: SendLLMMessageFnTypeInternal = ({ messages, onText, onFinal
 				"X-Title": 'Void Editor', // Optional. Shows in rankings on openrouter.ai.
 			},
 		});
-		options = { model: voidConfig.openRouter.model, messages: messages, stream: true, max_completion_tokens: parseInt(voidConfig.default.maxTokens) }
+		options = { model: voidConfig.openRouter.model, messages: messages, stream: true, max_completion_tokens: maxTokens }
 	}
 	else if (voidConfig.default.whichApi === 'openAICompatible') {
 		openai = new OpenAI({ baseURL: voidConfig.openAICompatible.endpoint, apiKey: voidConfig.openAICompatible.apikey, dangerouslyAllowBrowser: true })
-		options = { model: voidConfig.openAICompatible.model, messages: messages, stream: true, max_completion_tokens: parseInt(voidConfig.default.maxTokens) }
+		options = { model: voidConfig.openAICompatible.model, messages: messages, stream: true, max_completion_tokens: maxTokens }
 	}
 	else {
 		console.error(`sendOpenAIMsg: invalid whichApi: ${voidConfig.default.whichApi}`)
diff --git a/extensions/void/src/extension.ts b/extensions/void/src/extension.ts
index 989bf4b9..fbbc182d 100644
--- a/extensions/void/src/extension.ts
+++ b/extensions/void/src/extension.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import { v4 as uuidv4 } from 'uuid'
 import { AbortRef } from './common/sendLLMMessage';
 import { DiffProvider } from './extension/DiffProvider';
 import { SidebarWebviewProvider } from './extension/providers/SidebarWebviewProvider';
-import { getVoidConfig } from './webviews/common/contextForConfig';
+import { getVoidConfigFromPartial } from './webviews/common/contextForConfig';
 import { applyDiffLazily } from './extension/ctrlL';
 import { readFileContentOfUri } from './extension/extensionLib/readFileContentOfUri';
 
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ export function activate(context: vscode.ExtensionContext) {
 
 					const docUri = editor.document.uri
 					const fileStr = await readFileContentOfUri(docUri)
-					const voidConfig = getVoidConfig(context.globalState.get('partialVoidConfig') ?? {})
+					const voidConfig = getVoidConfigFromPartial(context.globalState.get('partialVoidConfig') ?? {})
 
 					await applyDiffLazily({ docUri, oldFileStr: fileStr, diffRepr: m.diffRepr, voidConfig, diffProvider, diffArea, abortRef: abortApplyRef })
 				}
diff --git a/extensions/void/src/extension/extension.ts b/extensions/void/src/extension/extension.ts
index c3463365..7bfec5d8 100644
--- a/extensions/void/src/extension/extension.ts
+++ b/extensions/void/src/extension/extension.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import { applyDiffLazily } from './ctrlL';
 import { readFileContentOfUri } from './extensionLib/readFileContentOfUri';
 import { MessageToSidebar, MessageFromSidebar, DiffArea, ChatThreads } from '../common/shared_types';
 import { DiffProvider } from './DiffProvider';
-import { getVoidConfig } from '../webviews/common/contextForConfig';
+import { getVoidConfigFromPartial } from '../webviews/common/contextForConfig';
 import { CtrlKWebviewProvider } from './providers/CtrlKWebviewProvider';
 import { SidebarWebviewProvider } from './providers/SidebarWebviewProvider';
 import { v4 as uuidv4 } from 'uuid'
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ export function activate(context: vscode.ExtensionContext) {
 
 					const docUri = editor.document.uri
 					const fileStr = await readFileContentOfUri(docUri)
-					const voidConfig = getVoidConfig(context.globalState.get('partialVoidConfig') ?? {})
+					const voidConfig = getVoidConfigFromPartial(context.globalState.get('partialVoidConfig') ?? {})
 
 					await applyDiffLazily({ docUri, oldFileStr: fileStr, diffRepr: m.diffRepr, voidConfig, diffProvider, diffArea, abortRef: abortApplyRef })
 				}
diff --git a/extensions/void/src/webviews/common/contextForConfig.tsx b/extensions/void/src/webviews/common/contextForConfig.tsx
index e5b5d6b9..06c33781 100644
--- a/extensions/void/src/webviews/common/contextForConfig.tsx
+++ b/extensions/void/src/webviews/common/contextForConfig.tsx
@@ -46,15 +46,8 @@ const voidConfigInfo: Record<
 			configFields,
 		),
 
-		maxTokens: configEnum(
-			"Max number of tokens to output.",
-			'1024',
-			[
-				"1024",
-				"2048",
-				"4096",
-				"8192"
-			] as const,
+		maxTokens: configString(
+			"Max number of tokens to output. Must be a number.", ''
 		),
 
 	},
@@ -185,18 +178,18 @@ export type VoidConfig = {
 
 
 
-export const getVoidConfig = (currentConfig: PartialVoidConfig): VoidConfig => {
+export const getVoidConfigFromPartial = (partialVoidConfig: PartialVoidConfig): VoidConfig => {
 	const config = {} as PartialVoidConfig
 	for (let field of [...configFields, 'default'] as const) {
 		config[field] = {}
 		for (let prop in voidConfigInfo[field]) {
-			config[field][prop] = currentConfig[field]?.[prop] || voidConfigInfo[field][prop].defaultVal
+			config[field][prop] = partialVoidConfig[field]?.[prop]?.trim() || voidConfigInfo[field][prop].defaultVal
 		}
 	}
 	return config as VoidConfig
 }
 
-const defaultVoidConfig: VoidConfig = getVoidConfig({})
+const defaultVoidConfig: VoidConfig = getVoidConfigFromPartial({})
 
 // const [stateRef, setState] = useInstantState(initVal)
 // setState instantly changes the value of stateRef instead of having to wait until the next render
@@ -234,7 +227,7 @@ export function ConfigProvider({ children }: { children: ReactNode }) {
 		getVSCodeAPI().postMessage({ type: 'getPartialVoidConfig' })
 		awaitVSCodeResponse('partialVoidConfig').then((m) => {
 			setPartialVoidConfig(m.partialVoidConfig)
-			const newFullConfig = getVoidConfig(m.partialVoidConfig)
+			const newFullConfig = getVoidConfigFromPartial(m.partialVoidConfig)
 			setVoidConfig(newFullConfig)
 		})
 	}, [setPartialVoidConfig])
@@ -254,7 +247,7 @@ export function ConfigProvider({ children }: { children: ReactNode }) {
 					}
 				}
 				setPartialVoidConfig(newPartialConfig)
-				const newFullConfig = getVoidConfig(newPartialConfig)
+				const newFullConfig = getVoidConfigFromPartial(newPartialConfig)
 				setVoidConfig(newFullConfig)
 				getVSCodeAPI().postMessage({ type: 'persistPartialVoidConfig', partialVoidConfig: newPartialConfig })
 			}