Context

Keep the context window focused on what matters right now.

When to Use

• Session feels slow or responses degrade
• Switching between unrelated tasks
• After completing a major task and pivoting
• Context approaching 60–70% capacity

Compression Strategies

Choose based on how much to recover:

Strategy	Savings	Risk
Prune — drop tool outputs, resolved threads	10–30%	Low
Summarize — replace resolved subtasks with 3-bullet summary	30–60%	Low
Checkpoint — save state to file, fresh session	100%	Medium

Summarize pattern

Replace a completed subtask block with:

## [SUMMARIZED] Auth refactor — 2026-04-10

- Replaced JWT middleware with JWKS-based validation
- 3 new tests; all green
- Gotcha: validateToken() is now async

Checkpoint pattern

When severely bloated, save state before starting fresh:

.agents/plans/checkpoint-<date>.md:
  - Active task: <what you're doing>
  - Branch: <name>
  - Completed: <bullet list>
  - Next step: <exact next action>
  - Key decisions: <anything not in git>

Context Prioritization

Keep in context (highest priority first):

1. Current task and next step
2. Active file contents being modified
3. In-progress plan and pending items
4. Key decisions not yet committed
5. Recent error messages (if debugging)

Drop first:

1. Old search results and grep outputs
2. File reads that are no longer being modified
3. Completed todo items and resolved threads
4. Verbose tool execution logs

Steps

1. Estimate current context usage (% of limit)
2. Identify stale context using the drop-first list above
3. Apply the appropriate compression strategy
4. Verify active state preserved: branch, files, plan, decisions
5. Report what changed

Output

Before: ~N% used
Compacted: <what was removed>
After: ~N% used
Preserved: <key items kept>
Checkpoint: <file path if saved>

Rules

• Never compact active task state
• Preserve: current branch, active files, in-progress plan, key decisions
• Remove: old search outputs, completed todos, resolved threads
• At 80%+ capacity: checkpoint immediately, don't wait for degradation
• Save critical state to a plan file before compacting if work is in progress