v1truv1us Context Budget
Overview
Context windows are finite resources. This skill provides strategies for managing context budget effectively — ensuring critical information is always available while staying within limits.
When to Use
- Session context is growing large
- Agent starts losing track of earlier instructions
- Working with large codebases or long files
- Before starting a complex multi-step task
Context Budget Tiers
| Tier | Context Used | Strategy |
|---|---|---|
| Green | 0-50% | Normal operation |
| Yellow | 50-75% | Start compressing, remove stale context |
| Orange | 75-90% | Aggressive compression, checkpoint state |
| Red | 90-100% | Checkpoint, start fresh session |
Optimization Strategies
1. Progressive Disclosure
Load information only when needed:
- Skills: description loaded at startup, full content on demand
- References: loaded only when skill requires them
- Code: read only the relevant sections, not entire files
2. Context Packing
Compress information without losing meaning:
- Remove redundant instructions
- Summarize long discussions into key decisions
- Replace verbose explanations with references
3. Session Checkpointing
Save state before context runs out:
Checkpoint:
- Current task: [what you're doing]
- Progress: [what's done]
- Next steps: [what's pending]
- Key decisions: [important choices made]
4. Context Prioritization
Keep critical information, discard the rest:
| Priority | Keep | Discard |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | Current task, active constraints | Completed task details |
| Important | Project conventions, key decisions | Exploration dead ends |
| Nice-to-have | Related patterns, examples | Verbose explanations |
| Disposable | Previous conversation turns | Tool output already processed |
Monitoring
Signs of Context Pressure
- Agent repeats questions already answered
- Agent forgets earlier instructions
- Agent starts hallucinating information
- Responses become shorter or less detailed
Recovery Actions
- Checkpoint: Save current state
- Summarize: Compress conversation into key points
- Restart: Begin new session with checkpoint data
- Verify: Confirm context is correct after restart
Anti-Rationalization Table
| Excuse | Counter |
|---|---|
| "Context is plenty, no need to optimize" | Context pressure creeps up silently. Monitor usage and optimize proactively. |
| "I'll just keep everything in context" | Full context wastes tokens on stale information. Progressive disclosure is more efficient. |
| "Checkpointing takes too long" | A 30-second checkpoint saves a 30-minute session restart. It pays for itself. |
| "The agent should remember everything" | Context windows are finite. Design workflows that work within constraints. |