Context Compression

Preserve

• user goal, acceptance criteria, scope, and explicit authority;
• user corrections and preferences;
• verified facts with source paths/links and freshness;
• decisions, rationale, rejected alternatives, and invariants;
• files/state changed, backups, commands, test results, and failures;
• active task graph, dependencies, risks, blockers, and next actions.

Remove repeated prose, superseded speculation, raw logs already stored in artifacts, completed low-value narration, and source text that can be reopened by pointer.

Method

1. Inventory current instructions, conversation, files, tool outputs, and external state.
2. Separate verified fact, inference, proposal, and unresolved question.
3. Write a compact handoff with exact paths, counts, commands, hashes/timestamps where relevant.
4. Check every critical claim against its source. Mark stale/external facts that need refresh.
5. Include negative knowledge: failed approaches and why they failed.
6. State the next dependency-ready step and its completion test.
7. After transfer/compaction, reopen the handoff and current artifacts; verify mutable state before acting.

Handoff template

Goal and done definition:
Scope / authority / do-not-do:
Verified current state:
Decisions and rationale:
Artifacts and backups:
Validation run and results:
Failures/attempts not to repeat:
Open risks/blockers:
Next actions in dependency order:

Do not claim a host-specific compact/rewind/clear command exists. Use the active host's actual mechanism when available.