name: context-optimizer description: Optimize token usage and context management. Use when sessions feel slow, context is degraded, or you're running out of budget.

Context Optimizer

Manage your context window and token budget effectively.

Quick Diagnosis

1. Run /context to check current usage
2. If > 70% → compact now before it degrades
3. If > 90% → you're in the "dumb zone", compact immediately

Optimization Strategies

Immediate

Configuration

Set proactive auto-compaction:

{
  "env": {
    "CLAUDE_AUTOCOMPACT_PCT_OVERRIDE": "50"
  }
}

MCP Audit

Keep <10 MCPs enabled, <80 tools total. Each MCP adds overhead to every request.

/mcp          # List active servers
# Disable what you're not using

Prompt Engineering for Token Efficiency

• Scope your prompts: "In src/auth/, fix the login bug"
• Provide constraints: "Don't modify the middleware"
• Give acceptance criteria: "Should return 429 after 5 attempts"
• Avoid vague prompts: "Fix the code" (forces Claude to read everything)

Subagent Delegation

Heavy operations that generate lots of output should go to subagents:

• Test suite output → subagent
• Large file exploration → subagent
• Documentation generation → subagent
• Log analysis → subagent

The main session stays clean while subagents handle the volume.

Context Budget Planning

Token Efficiency

Output Reduction (40-60% savings)

• No sycophantic openers ("Sure!", "Great question!")
• No closing fluff ("Let me know if you need anything!")
• No prompt restatement before answering
• Code first, explanation only if non-obvious
• Structured output (tables, bullets) over prose
• ASCII only: -- not em dashes, straight quotes not smart quotes

Behavioral Efficiency

• One-pass coding: complete solution, test once, stop if green
• Read before write: never modify unread files
• No re-reads: don't re-read unchanged files
• Tool-call budgets: 20 (quick fix) to 80 (large feature)
• Never iterate more than twice on the same failure

Task Profiles

Switch response style based on context:

• Coding: code first, minimal explanation, simplest solution
• Agent/Pipeline: structured output only, no prose, parseable
• Analysis: finding first, tables over paragraphs, sourced numbers

CLAUDE.md Optimization

• Root CLAUDE.md: < 60 lines ideal, < 150 max
• Move package-specific info to package-level CLAUDE.md
• Move personal preferences to CLAUDE.local.md
• Remove obvious or rapidly-changing information

When Context Is Degraded

Signs:

• Claude repeats itself or forgets earlier context
• Responses become generic or lose project-specific knowledge
• Tool calls start failing for reasons that worked earlier

Fix:

1. Manual /compact
2. If still bad: new session with /resume
3. For recurring issues: reduce CLAUDE.md size, disable MCPs