/distill - Content Distillation

Reduce content size while preserving critical information. Shows quality loss estimation before execution.

Out of scope: Conversation context (use built-in /compact)

Granularity Levels

Criticality Heuristics

Priority order for preservation (highest → lowest):

Workflow

1. Run Estimation Script

.claude/skills/distill/scripts/estimate_distill.py "$FILE" [content_type]

2. Present Results & Confirm

/distill global/policy/RULES.md

Tokens: ~4364

| Level        | After | Reduction | Critical Loss |
|--------------|-------|-----------|---------------|
| 1. essence   | ~654  | 85%       | ~35%          |
| 2. summary   | ~1527 | 65%       | ~15%          |
| 3. condensed | ~2400 | 45%       | ~5%           |
| 4. detailed  | ~3273 | 25%       | ~2%           |
| 5. minimal   | ~3709 | 15%       | ~0%           |
----------------------------------------------------

Select level [1-5/cancel]:

3. Execute Distillation

Remove ONLY what "May Remove" permits for selected level.

Self-check: If removing content not in "May Remove" column → STOP, wrong level.

4. Verify & Report

After writing, measure actual tokens:

.claude/skills/distill/scripts/estimate_distill.py "$FILE" [content_type]

Report (compare against initial estimation, not generic range):

Before: 4434 tokens → Estimated: 2858 tokens (35% reduction)
Actual: 2621 tokens (41%) | Variance: +6%

If variance >10%, warn and offer git restore.

5. Output Location

• Git-versioned files: Replace original (git tracks history)
• Serena memories: Archive old as <name>_archived_<timestamp>, write new

Anti-Patterns

• Distilling without estimation first
• Removing content not permitted by level's "May Remove"
• Not verifying actual vs target reduction
• Skipping user confirmation