Reduce & Delegate Framework Skill

Apply the R&D framework to optimize prompts, workflows, and context management.

Purpose

There are only two ways to manage context: Reduce and Delegate. This skill helps you systematically apply both strategies to any context optimization challenge.

When to Use

• Context window approaching limits

• Agent performance degrading over conversation

• Prompts growing unwieldy

• Workflows consuming too many tokens

• Need to scale agent work

The R&D Analysis Process

Step 1: Identify the Context Problem

Categorize the issue:

Problem Type Indicator Primary Strategy

Context Rot Old info guiding decisions Reduce (fresh instance)

Context Pollution Unfocused, tangential Reduce (remove irrelevant)

Toxic Context Contradictory behavior Reduce (clear conflicts)

Context Overflow Approaching limits Delegate (offload work)

Step 2: Apply Reduce Strategies

For each context element, ask:

• Is this necessary for the current task?

• Can this be loaded on-demand instead?

• Is this information stale or outdated?

• Does this contradict other context?

Reduction techniques:

Technique Application

Fresh instance New task type, reset history

Output styles Control verbosity, reduce tokens

Focused reads Specific files vs directories

Priming commands Replace static memory

MCP cleanup Remove unused servers

Step 3: Apply Delegate Strategies

For complex or parallel work, ask:

• Does this subtask need different context?

• Can this run independently?

• Would a specialized agent perform better?

• Is there parallel work opportunity?

Delegation techniques:

Technique Application

Sub-agents Focused tasks with isolated context

Background agents Parallel work, async execution

Agent experts Domain-specific knowledge

Spec files Handoff between agents

Optimization Workflow

1. Measure current context state

   • Use /context command
   • Check token consumption

2. Analyze composition

   • What's consuming most tokens?
   • What's unnecessary?

3. Apply Reduce

   • Remove unnecessary context
   • Start fresh if needed
   • Control output verbosity

4. Apply Delegate

   • Offload subtasks
   • Use specialized agents
   • Enable parallel work

5. Verify improvement

   • Measure new state
   • Compare performance

Common Optimization Patterns

Pattern: Bloated Memory File

Before:

CLAUDE.md (5KB+)

Contains: everything about the project

After (Reduce):

CLAUDE.md (1KB)

Contains: only universals

.claude/commands/prime.md

Contains: task-specific context loading

Pattern: Long Conversation

Problem: Multi-turn conversation with context rot

Solution (Reduce):

• Start fresh instance

• Use priming command to load current state

• Continue with clean context

Pattern: Complex Research Task

Before:

Primary agent does research -> context polluted Primary agent implements -> struggles with focus

After (Delegate):

Primary agent delegates research -> sub-agent Sub-agent returns summary -> primary continues Primary agent implements -> clean context

Pattern: Parallel Independent Tasks

Before:

Task A -> Task B -> Task C (sequential, context accumulates)

After (Delegate):

Task A (agent 1)
Task B (agent 2) -> Aggregate results Task C (agent 3) /

Output Format

When optimizing, report:

{ "analysis": { "current_state": "Context at 80% capacity", "primary_issue": "Long conversation with accumulated history", "secondary_issues": ["Verbose tool outputs", "Unused MCP servers"] }, "reduce_recommendations": [ { "action": "Start fresh instance", "impact": "Reset accumulated history", "effort": "Low" }, { "action": "Apply concise output style", "impact": "50% reduction in output tokens", "effort": "Low" } ], "delegate_recommendations": [ { "action": "Create research sub-agent", "impact": "Isolate research context", "effort": "Medium" } ], "expected_improvement": "40-60% context reduction" }

Decision Matrix

When to Reduce vs Delegate:

Situation Reduce Delegate

Stale context X

Irrelevant context X

Conflicting context X

Complex subtask

X

Parallel work

X

Domain expertise needed

X

Context overflow X X

Key Quote

"There are only two ways to manage your context window: Reduce and Delegate. Every technique fits into one or both of these buckets."

Cross-References

• @rd-framework.md - Framework reference

• @context-audit skill - Audit before optimizing

• @context-layers.md - Understanding what to optimize

• @context-rot-vs-pollution.md - Diagnosing the problem

Version History

• v1.0.0 (2025-12-26): Initial release

Last Updated

Date: 2025-12-26 Model: claude-opus-4-5-20251101