Context Management

• Load if: Always active (context management foundation)
• Prerequisites: @smith-guidance/SKILL.md

CRITICAL: Proactive Context Management (Primacy Zone)

Agent role: Check context levels proactively, RECOMMEND actions to user.

Context lifecycle: explore → monitor → prepare (at warning threshold) → reset (at critical threshold)

To check context: Prompt "What is the current context usage?" to get percentage.

Agent RECOMMENDS - user executes the platform's context reset command.

Platform Reference

• Claude Code: Warning 50%, Critical 60%, Targeted: "Summarize from here" (Esc+Esc), Action: /clear (stop hook enforced)
• Kiro: Warning 70%, Critical 80%, Compact Auto, Clear New session
• Cursor: Warning 70%, Critical 80%, Compact /summarize, Clear New chat

Progressive Disclosure

Loading order (cheapest first):

1. Metadata scan: Glob/Grep for file locations
2. Targeted read: Specific file sections only
3. Full file: Only when actively modifying
4. Broad explore: Delegate to subagent (isolated context)

• NEVER read entire directories without Grep filtering
• NEVER load full files when targeted sections suffice
• NEVER repeat file reads without using context

Serena MCP Preference

When Serena MCP is available, prefer Serena tools over native tools:

Why: Kiro's readFile truncates, strReplace fails on duplicates. Serena's regex mode handles complex replacements reliably.

Tool preference:

• Reading: search_for_pattern > find_symbol > native readFile
• Writing: replace_content (regex) > replace_symbol_body > native strReplace
• Context savings: 99%+ reduction with symbol-level operations

Information Retention

Always preserve:

• Task goals
• File:line locations
• Architectural decisions
• Incomplete work

Always discard:

• Verbose tool outputs
• Failed explorations
• Redundant file reads

Reference format: Use file:line (e.g., auth.ts:234) instead of embedding content

Ralph Loop Context Management

Ralph burns ~1-3.5k tokens/iteration. At critical threshold, persist state to Serena memory before context reset.

See @smith-ralph/SKILL.md for full context strategy and retention criteria.

• @smith-guidance/SKILL.md - Core agent behavior
• @smith-ctx-claude/SKILL.md - Claude Code: /clear (stop hook enforced)
• @smith-ctx-cursor/SKILL.md - Cursor: UI indicator, /summarize
• @smith-ctx-kiro/SKILL.md - Kiro: 80% auto-summarize, Serena memory
• @smith-serena/SKILL.md - Serena MCP for persistent memory

ACTION (Recency Zone)

Proactive context checks:

1. Periodically check context (platform-specific method)
2. At warning threshold: Recommend context reset with retention criteria
3. At critical threshold: Urgently recommend before degradation
4. User executes command, agent continues with focused context

Before recommending context reset, prepare:

• Task requirements summary
• File paths with line numbers
• Key design decisions
• Remaining todos

Recommendation format:

Context at [X]%. Recommend context reset (see platform skill for command).
Keep: [task], [files], [decisions], [todos]