[IMPORTANT] Use TaskCreate to break ALL work into small tasks BEFORE starting — including tasks for each file read. This prevents context loss from long files. For simple tasks, AI MUST ask user whether to skip.

Quick Summary

Goal: Compress conversation context to optimize token usage while preserving critical information.

Workflow:

• Analyze -- Identify essential vs. expendable context

• Compress -- Remove redundant information, summarize findings

• Verify -- Ensure critical decisions and progress are preserved

Key Rules:

• Preserve: decisions made, files modified, current task state

• Remove: redundant tool outputs, repeated searches, verbose logs

• Use when context window approaches limits

Be skeptical. Apply critical thinking, sequential thinking. Every claim needs traced proof, confidence percentages (Idea should be more than 80%).

Compact Context

Proactively compress the current conversation context to optimize token usage.

When to Use

• Before starting a new task in a long session

• When working on multiple unrelated features

• At natural workflow checkpoints (after commits, PR creation)

• When context indicator shows high usage

Actions

• Summarize completed work - What was done, key decisions made

• Preserve essential context - Active file paths, current task, blockers

• Clear redundant history - Old exploration, superseded plans

• Update memory - Save important patterns to .claude/memory/

Best Practices

• Use /compact at natural breakpoints, not mid-task

• After compacting, briefly restate the current objective

• Check that critical file paths are still accessible

• If working on a bug, preserve error messages and stack traces

Context Preservation Checklist

Before compacting, ensure you've saved:

• Current branch and uncommitted changes status

• Active file paths being modified

• Any error messages or stack traces

• Key decisions and their rationale

• Pending items from todo list

Example Usage

User: /compact Claude: Compacting context...

Session Summary

• Implemented employee export feature
• Fixed validation bug in SaveEmployeeCommand
• Created unit tests for EmployeeHelper

Active Context

• Branch: feature/employee-export
• Files: Employee.Application/Commands/ExportEmployees/
• Current task: Add pagination to export

Cleared

• Exploration of unrelated notification code
• Superseded implementation approaches

Ready to continue with pagination implementation.

IMPORTANT Task Planning Notes (MUST FOLLOW)

• Always plan and break work into many small todo tasks

• Always add a final review todo task to verify work quality and identify fixes/enhancements