How do I install the Compact Guide skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add jh941213/compact-guide-2 in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Compact Guide safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Compact Guide?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Compact Guide free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Compact Guide?

jh941213 (@jh941213) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Compact Guide by jh941213 — Agent Skill

Name: Compact Guide
Author: jh941213

File contents

Context Management Guide

Context is like fresh milk. The problem is freshness, not volume — polluted context deserves a reset.

Core Principles (the 1M-context era)

Don't count remaining tokens — auto-compact manages the threshold — manual /compact only when a work unit ends
Manual intervention is signal-based, not number-based:

Signal	Action
A work unit (milestone/story) just finished	/compact — start the next unit clean
The work topic changes entirely	/handoff → /clear — new session
Repeating the same mistakes, forgetting earlier decisions, illogical replies	Pollution signal — /handoff → /clear (compact doesn't wash pollution out)
Right after long exploration/log output	/compact if a work unit is ending; otherwise leave it to auto-compact

Never shrink or rush work out of worry about remaining context — keep going

Commands

/compact

Summarizes and compresses conversation content
Retains important information, reduces tokens only
Does not interrupt workflow

/clear

Complete reset
Risky without HANDOFF.md!
Use when you want a clean start

Recommended Pattern

Start work
    |
Work unit completed (milestone/story)
    |
/compact (clean up at the boundary)
    |
… repeat …
    |
Topic switch or pollution signal
    |
/handoff (generate HANDOFF.md)
    |
/clear (reset)
    |
Read HANDOFF.md in new session

Context Management from a Cost Perspective

Why /compact is advantageous

Work context (progress, decisions) is preserved as a summary, so nothing needs rebuilding
Retains important information while reducing tokens only, so workflow is not interrupted
Lower restart cost than /clear

Hidden cost of /clear

Conversation-context rebuild cost — progress, decisions, and exploration results must be rebuilt from scratch
Additional tokens generated when loading HANDOFF.md
Implicit context not captured in HANDOFF.md is lost

Decision rule

On cost alone: /compact > /clear
When quality wobbles: /clear is the answer — summarizing polluted context summarizes the pollution too
For long autonomous runs (TTH/autodev), leave it to auto-compact and don't intervene

---name: compact-guide-2description: Context window management and token optimization guide. Triggers on: context, tokens, compact, memory management. NOT for: code writing, debugging.---# Context Management GuideContext is like fresh milk. **The problem is freshness, not volume** — polluted context deserves a reset.## Core Principles (the 1M-context era)- Don't count remaining tokens — **auto-compact manages the threshold** — manual /compact **only when a work unit ends**- Manual intervention is **signal-based**, not number-based:| Signal | Action ||--------|--------|| A work unit (milestone/story) just finished | /compact — start the next unit clean || The work topic changes entirely | /handoff → /clear — new session || Repeating the same mistakes, forgetting earlier decisions, illogical replies | Pollution signal — /handoff → /clear (compact doesn't wash pollution out) || Right after long exploration/log output | /compact if a work unit is ending; otherwise leave it to auto-compact |- Never shrink or rush work out of worry about remaining context — keep going## Commands### /compact- Summarizes and compresses conversation content- Retains important information, reduces tokens only- Does not interrupt workflow### /clear- Complete reset- Risky without HANDOFF.md!- Use when you want a clean start## Recommended Pattern```Start work |Work unit completed (milestone/story) |/compact (clean up at the boundary) |… repeat … |Topic switch or pollution signal |/handoff (generate HANDOFF.md) |/clear (reset) |Read HANDOFF.md in new session```## Context Management from a Cost Perspective### Why /compact is advantageous- Work context (progress, decisions) is preserved as a summary, so nothing needs rebuilding- Retains important information while reducing tokens only, so workflow is not interrupted- Lower restart cost than /clear### Hidden cost of /clear- Conversation-context rebuild cost — progress, decisions, and exploration results must be rebuilt from scratch- Additional tokens generated when loading HANDOFF.md- Implicit context not captured in HANDOFF.md is lost### Decision rule- **On cost alone**: /compact > /clear- **When quality wobbles**: /clear is the answer — summarizing polluted context summarizes the pollution too- For long autonomous runs (TTH/autodev), leave it to auto-compact and don't intervene

Frequently asked questions

Compact Guide