# Strategic Compact

> Suggests manual context compaction at logical intervals to preserve context through task phases rather than arbitrary auto-compaction.

- **Type:** Skill
- **Install:** `agentstack add skill-marvinrichter-clarc-strategic-compact`
- **Verified:** Yes — security-reviewed for prompt injection and unsafe behavior
- **Seller:** [marvinrichter](https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/marvinrichter)
- **Installs:** 0
- **Category:** [AI & ML](https://agentstack.voostack.com/c/ai-and-ml)
- **Latest version:** 0.1.0
- **License:** MIT
- **Upstream author:** [marvinrichter](https://github.com/marvinrichter)
- **Source:** https://github.com/marvinrichter/clarc/tree/main/.agents/skills/strategic-compact
- **Website:** https://marvinrichter.github.io/clarc

## Install

```sh
agentstack add skill-marvinrichter-clarc-strategic-compact
```

Requires the [AgentStack CLI](https://agentstack.voostack.com/docs/cli). Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and any MCP-compatible agent.

## About

# Strategic Compact Skill

Suggests manual `/compact` at strategic points in your workflow rather than relying on arbitrary auto-compaction.

## When to Activate

- Running long sessions that approach context limits (200K+ tokens)
- Working on multi-phase tasks (research → plan → implement → test)
- Switching between unrelated tasks within the same session
- After completing a major milestone and starting new work
- When responses slow down or become less coherent (context pressure)

## Why Strategic Compaction?

Auto-compaction triggers at arbitrary points:
- Often mid-task, losing important context
- No awareness of logical task boundaries
- Can interrupt complex multi-step operations

Strategic compaction at logical boundaries:
- **After exploration, before execution** — Compact research context, keep implementation plan
- **After completing a milestone** — Fresh start for next phase
- **Before major context shifts** — Clear exploration context before different task

## How It Works

The `suggest-compact.js` script runs on PreToolUse (Edit/Write) and:

1. **Tracks tool calls** — Counts tool invocations in session
2. **Threshold detection** — Suggests at configurable threshold (default: 50 calls)
3. **Periodic reminders** — Reminds every 25 calls after threshold

## Hook Setup

Add to your `~/.claude/settings.json`:

```json
{
  "hooks": {
    "PreToolUse": [
      {
        "matcher": "Edit",
        "hooks": [{ "type": "command", "command": "node ~/.claude/skills/strategic-compact/suggest-compact.js" }]
      },
      {
        "matcher": "Write",
        "hooks": [{ "type": "command", "command": "node ~/.claude/skills/strategic-compact/suggest-compact.js" }]
      }
    ]
  }
}
```

## Configuration

Environment variables:
- `COMPACT_THRESHOLD` — Tool calls before first suggestion (default: 50)

## Compaction Decision Guide

Use this table to decide when to compact:

| Phase Transition | Compact? | Why |
|-----------------|----------|-----|
| Research → Planning | Yes | Research context is bulky; plan is the distilled output |
| Planning → Implementation | Yes | Plan is in TodoWrite or a file; free up context for code |
| Implementation → Testing | Maybe | Keep if tests reference recent code; compact if switching focus |
| Debugging → Next feature | Yes | Debug traces pollute context for unrelated work |
| Mid-implementation | No | Losing variable names, file paths, and partial state is costly |
| After a failed approach | Yes | Clear the dead-end reasoning before trying a new approach |

## What Survives Compaction

Understanding what persists helps you compact with confidence:

| Persists | Lost |
|----------|------|
| CLAUDE.md instructions | Intermediate reasoning and analysis |
| TodoWrite task list | File contents you previously read |
| Memory files (`~/.claude/memory/`) | Multi-step conversation context |
| Git state (commits, branches) | Tool call history and counts |
| Files on disk | Nuanced user preferences stated verbally |

## Best Practices

1. **Compact after planning** — Once plan is finalized in TodoWrite, compact to start fresh
2. **Compact after debugging** — Clear error-resolution context before continuing
3. **Don't compact mid-implementation** — Preserve context for related changes
4. **Read the suggestion** — The hook tells you *when*, you decide *if*
5. **Write before compacting** — Save important context to files or memory before compacting
6. **Use `/compact` with a summary** — Add a custom message: `/compact Focus on implementing auth middleware next`

## Related

- Memory persistence hooks — For state that survives compaction
- `continuous-learning` skill — Extracts patterns before session ends

## Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

- **Author:** [marvinrichter](https://github.com/marvinrichter)
- **Source:** [marvinrichter/clarc](https://github.com/marvinrichter/clarc)
- **License:** MIT
- **Homepage:** https://marvinrichter.github.io/clarc

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.

## Pricing

- **Free** — Free

## Security capabilities

Automated source analysis of v0.1.0 — what this tool can access:

- **Network access:** no
- **Filesystem access:** no
- **Shell / process execution:** no
- **Environment & secrets:** no
- **Dynamic code execution:** no

*"Yes" means the capability is present in the source — more access means more to trust, not that it is unsafe.*


## Versions

- **0.1.0** — security scan: passed — Imported from the upstream source.

## Links

- Listing page: https://agentstack.voostack.com/l/skill-marvinrichter-clarc-strategic-compact
- Seller: https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/marvinrichter
- Browse the marketplace: https://agentstack.voostack.com/browse

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