# Context Density Optimizer > Audit the active working context and remove token noise before deeper implementation, review, or planning work. Use when Codex has accumulated too many files, notes, logs, prior summaries, or reference documents and needs to decide what to keep, drop, condense, or defer. Especially useful after broad codebase sweeps, large documentation reads, debug-log dumps, multi-skill handoffs, or whenever context relevance, signal density, or token efficiency has become uncertain. - Skill: `jovd83/context-density-optimizer` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 4 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add jovd83/context-density-optimizer` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/jovd83/context-density-optimizer/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Security - License: MIT - Author: jovd83 (https://skillmd.com/u/jovd83) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/jovd83/context-density-optimizer --- # Context Density Optimizer Optimize context for the current task without losing critical decision-making signal. ## Telemetry & Logging > [!IMPORTANT] > All usage of this skill must be logged via the Skill Dispatcher to ensure audit logs and wallboard analytics are accurate: > `./log-dispatch.cmd --skill --intent --reason ` (or `./log-dispatch.sh` on Linux) ## Telemetry & Logging > [!IMPORTANT] > All usage of this skill must be logged via the Skill Dispatcher to ensure audit logs and wallboard analytics are accurate: > `./log-dispatch.cmd --skill --intent --reason ` (or `./log-dispatch.sh` on Linux) ## Dispatcher Notes When this skill is invoked from a dispatcher-led workflow, map inputs to the closest available artifacts: - `target_task_description`: the immediate user objective or routed next step - `active_context`: files, notes, summaries, logs, traces, prompts, or prior analysis currently competing for attention - `known_constraints`: correctness rules, contracts, deadlines, design conventions, or safety requirements that must survive pruning If the caller provides a routing wrapper, preserve the underlying task objective and optimize for that concrete next action rather than the wrapper itself. ## Goals - Identify which context artifacts materially help the task. - Reduce redundant, stale, low-signal, or overly detailed inputs. - Recommend the smallest useful working set for the next step. - Preserve task-critical logic, constraints, conventions, and unresolved decisions. ## Inputs Expect some combination of: - `target_task_description`: what the agent is trying to do next - `active_context`: loaded files, summaries, notes, logs, prompts, or prior findings - `known_constraints`: explicit requirements, deadlines, safety rules, architectural boundaries If one of these is missing, infer cautiously from the available material and say what was assumed. ## Workflow 1. Define the immediate task horizon. Determine the next concrete decision or execution step. Optimize for that horizon, not for hypothetical future work. 2. Inventory the active context. Group inputs into logical buckets such as implementation files, architecture docs, logs, generated artifacts, prior summaries, tests, and instructions. 3. Score each item by practical value. Classify each item using four questions: - Does it affect the next decision or edit? - Does it contain unique information not captured elsewhere? - Is its current form necessary, or would a summary suffice? - Is it authoritative, stale, speculative, or duplicative? 4. Recommend the minimum useful set. For each item, choose one action: - `KEEP`: retain as-is - `CONDENSE`: replace with a shorter summary or targeted excerpt - `DEFER`: exclude for now but note when it should be reintroduced - `DROP`: remove from the active working set 5. Protect essential signal. Do not remove or overly condense: - the file or artifact currently being edited - authoritative requirements or constraints tied to the task - architecture or design conventions that directly govern the work - unresolved findings, edge cases, or decisions that could change the outcome 6. Produce an auditable recommendation. Return a concise audit that explains why each non-`KEEP` action is safe. ## Output Default to a short human-readable audit using this shape: ### Context Density Audit - `Task horizon`: one sentence describing the immediate objective - `Overall assessment`: short statement about context health - `Keep`: high-value items that should remain in active context - `Condense`: items that should be summarized, with the summary target - `Defer`: useful later, but not needed now - `Drop`: low-signal or redundant items that can be removed - `Risks`: anything that could be lost by pruning too aggressively - `Next working set`: the minimal context bundle recommended for the next step When the caller asks for structure, use the JSON contract in [schemas/context-density-audit.schema.json](schemas/context-density-audit.schema.json) and the field guidance in [references/response-contract.md](references/response-contract.md). ## Decision Rules - Prefer authoritative sources over derivative summaries when they disagree. - Prefer one strong source over several weakly overlapping ones. - Prefer summaries over raw logs when the task is diagnostic triage rather than line-by-line forensics. - Prefer targeted excerpts over whole files when only a narrow section matters. - Prefer deferral over deletion when an artifact may become relevant in the next phase. ## Guardrails - Never drop a file solely because it is long; drop it only if it is low-value for the current task. - Never condense code that is about to be modified unless the preserved excerpt still supports safe editing. - Never discard constraints, acceptance criteria, API contracts, or design rules that govern correctness. - Flag uncertainty explicitly when you cannot tell whether an artifact is stale or authoritative. - Treat runtime memory, project-local memory, and shared memory as separate scopes; do not recommend promoting information between them unless the task explicitly calls for it. ## Read More Only As Needed - Read [references/operating-model.md](references/operating-model.md) when the context is messy, mixed, or politically sensitive and you need a fuller filtering framework. - Read [references/response-contract.md](references/response-contract.md) when the caller wants structured output, scoring rationale, or machine-readable results. - Read [references/evaluation.md](references/evaluation.md) when refining, testing, or comparing revisions of this skill. - Read [examples/sample-audit.md](examples/sample-audit.md) when you need a concrete example of a strong audit.