Context Clean Up

Context Clean Up (audit-only)

This skill is a runbook to identify what is bloating your prompt context and produce a safe, reversible plan.

Important: this skill is intentionally audit-only.

• It will not delete data, prune sessions, patch config, or modify cron jobs.
• If you ask for changes, it will propose an exact patch + rollback plan and wait for explicit approval.

Quick start

• /context-clean-up -> audit + actionable plan (no changes)

If you can run the bundled audit script, you can also generate a JSON report:

python3 scripts/context_cleanup_audit.py --out context-cleanup-audit.json

If your Python executable is not python3 (common on Windows):

py -3 scripts/context_cleanup_audit.py --out context-cleanup-audit.json

A note on NO_REPLY

Some OpenClaw setups use NO_REPLY as a sentinel meaning "silent success" (no human notification).

• If your runtime does not support it, interpret this as: print nothing on success.

Common offenders (what usually causes bloat)

Typical high-impact sources (roughly in descending frequency):

1. Tool result dumps

• large exec output pasted back into chat
• big read outputs (logs, JSON, lockfiles)
• web fetches that inject long pages

2. Automation transcript noise

• cron jobs that report "OK" every run
• heartbeat outputs that are not strictly alert-only

3. Bootstrap reinjection bloat

• overgrown AGENTS.md / MEMORY.md / SOUL.md / USER.md
• large runbooks embedded directly in SKILL.md instead of references/

4. Repeated summaries that never get trimmed

• summaries that accrete historical detail instead of staying restart-critical

Negative examples (don't run this skill)

• "Delete old sessions / prune logs / apply fixes now" -> this skill is audit-only.
• "Change my OpenClaw config automatically" -> must ask first.
• "Investigate a specific bug in app code" -> use repo-specific debugging instead.

Workflow (audit -> plan)

Step 0 - Determine scope

You need:

• Workspace dir: where your workspace/project files live
• State dir: where the runtime stores sessions/memory (call it <OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR>)

Common defaults (may vary by install):

• macOS/Linux: ~/.openclaw
• Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.openclaw

The audit script supports overrides via --state-dir or the OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR env var.

Step 1 - Run the audit script

This script prints a short stdout summary and can write a JSON report.

python3 scripts/context_cleanup_audit.py --workspace . --state-dir <OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR> --out context-cleanup-audit.json

Interpretation cheatsheet:

• huge tool outputs (exec/read/web_fetch): transcript bloat
• many System: / Cron: lines: automation bloat
• large bootstrap docs (AGENTS/MEMORY/SOUL/USER): reinjected rules bloat

Step 2 - Produce a fix plan (lowest-risk first)

Create a short plan with:

• top offenders (largest transcript entries)
• noisiest recurring jobs (cron/heartbeat)
• quick wins (reversible)

Standard levers:

Lever A - Make no-op automation truly silent

Goal: maintenance loops should output exactly NO_REPLY (or nothing) unless there is an anomaly.

Lever B - Keep notifications, avoid transcript injection

If you want alerts but want the interactive session lean:

• send out-of-band (Telegram/Slack/etc.)
• then keep job output silent

See: references/out-of-band-delivery.md

Lever C - Keep injected bootstrap files small

• keep only restart-critical rules in MEMORY.md
• move bulky notes into references/*.md or memory/*.md

Step 3 - Verify

After you apply any changes:

• confirm the next cron/heartbeat runs are silent on success
• watch context growth rate (it should flatten)

References

• references/out-of-band-delivery.md
• references/cron-noise-checklist.md