Strategic Compact Skill

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

Why Strategic Compaction?

Auto-compaction triggers at arbitrary points, often mid-task, losing important context. Strategic compaction at logical boundaries preserves what matters:

Timing	Benefit
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.sh script runs on PreToolUse (Edit/Write) and:

1. Tracks tool call invocations in session
2. Suggests at configurable threshold (default: 50 calls)
3. Reminds every 25 calls after threshold

Hook Setup

Add to ~/.claude/settings.json:

{
  "hooks": {
    "PreToolUse": [{
      "matcher": "tool == \"Edit\" || tool == \"Write\"",
      "hooks": [{
        "type": "command",
        "command": "~/.claude/skills/strategic-compact/suggest-compact.sh"
      }]
    }]
  }
}

Configuration

Environment variables:

• COMPACT_THRESHOLD - Tool calls before first suggestion (default: 50)

Best Practices

- Compact after planning: once plan is finalized, compact to start fresh - Compact after debugging: clear error-resolution context before continuing - Do not compact mid-implementation: preserve context for related changes - Read the suggestion: the hook tells you when, you decide if