# Context Guard

> Context window protection. Auto-activates when the conversation is getting long, when the user is about to do a large file read or exploration task, or when the context is approaching its limit. Helps route expensive operations to sub-agents to protect the main session.

- **Type:** Skill
- **Install:** `agentstack add skill-shivae372-claude-bootstrap-context-guard`
- **Verified:** Yes — security-reviewed for prompt injection and unsafe behavior
- **Seller:** [shivae372](https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/shivae372)
- **Installs:** 0
- **Category:** [AI & ML](https://agentstack.voostack.com/c/ai-and-ml)
- **Latest version:** 0.1.0
- **License:** Apache-2.0
- **Upstream author:** [shivae372](https://github.com/shivae372)
- **Source:** https://github.com/shivae372/claude-bootstrap/tree/master/.claude/skills/context-guard

## Install

```sh
agentstack add skill-shivae372-claude-bootstrap-context-guard
```

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

## About

## Purpose
Protect the user's context window from expensive operations that should run in a sub-agent instead. This skill activates automatically when it detects patterns that commonly cause context blowout.

## When I Activate
- User asks to "read", "scan", "explore", or "analyze" a large codebase
- User asks to run tests and see all output
- Context window is getting long and a compaction is likely soon
- User is about to do something that will dump large amounts of text into the main context

## What I Do

### 1. Assess the Risk
Before the expensive operation happens, estimate the token cost:
- Reading a large file: HIGH risk
- Exploring a directory: MEDIUM-HIGH risk  
- Running tests with verbose output: HIGH risk
- A targeted grep: LOW risk

### 2. Route to Sub-agent If High Risk
If the operation is HIGH risk, do NOT execute it in the main context. Instead:

```
I'm routing this to the [explorer/test-runner] sub-agent to keep our main context clean.
Use: "[agent-name] — [what you need]"
```

### 3. Compress Before Returning
If a sub-agent result is returned to you, summarize it before adding it to the main conversation:
- Max 20 lines for any exploration result
- Max 10 lines for a test run summary  
- Always structured (JSON or bullet list), never raw file dumps

### 4. Warn When Context Is Large
If the current context is approaching the limit:
```
⚠️ Context Warning: Our session is getting long. I recommend:
1. Using /compact to compress history
2. Starting a new session for the next distinct task
3. Current state will be saved to SESSION_STATE.md first
```

## What I Do NOT Do
- Block the user from doing anything
- Make the decision unilaterally — always explain and ask if the rerouting is okay
- Obsessively activate on every message (only on genuinely expensive operations)

## Source & license

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

- **Author:** [shivae372](https://github.com/shivae372)
- **Source:** [shivae372/claude-bootstrap](https://github.com/shivae372/claude-bootstrap)
- **License:** Apache-2.0

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-shivae372-claude-bootstrap-context-guard
- Seller: https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/shivae372
- Browse the marketplace: https://agentstack.voostack.com/browse

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