Context Optimization & Management
Manage context window efficiently to maintain productivity in long sessions.
For persistent memory operations, see the memory-management skill.
Four Strategies
1. Writing (Save Important Context)
Save critical findings to persistent memory via memory-management skill:
- •Discovered architectural patterns
- •Important business rules, cross-service dependencies
- •Solution decisions
2. Selecting (Retrieve Relevant Context)
Load relevant memories at session start:
javascript
mcp__memory__search_nodes({ query: 'relevant keywords' });
mcp__memory__open_nodes({ names: ['EntityName'] });
3. Compressing (Summarize Long Trajectories)
Create context anchors every 10 operations:
markdown
=== CONTEXT ANCHOR [N] === Task: [Original task] Completed: [Done items] Remaining: [Todo items] Findings: [Key discoveries] Next: [Specific next step] Confidence: [High/Medium/Low] ===========================
4. Isolating (Use Sub-Agents)
Delegate specialized tasks: broad exploration, independent research, parallel investigations.
Token-Efficient Patterns
File Reading
javascript
// BAD: Reading entire files
Read({ file_path: 'large-file.cs' });
// GOOD: Read specific sections
Read({ file_path: 'large-file.cs', offset: 100, limit: 50 });
// GOOD: Use grep to find content first
Grep({ pattern: 'class SaveEmployeeCommand', path: 'src/' });
Search Optimization
javascript
// BAD: Multiple sequential searches
Grep({ pattern: 'CreateAsync' }); Grep({ pattern: 'UpdateAsync' });
// GOOD: Combined pattern
Grep({ pattern: 'CreateAsync|UpdateAsync|DeleteAsync', output_mode: 'files_with_matches' });
Parallel Operations
javascript
// GOOD: Parallel reads for independent files
[Read({ file_path: 'file1.cs' }), Read({ file_path: 'file2.cs' })];
Anti-Patterns
| Anti-Pattern | Better Approach |
|---|---|
| Reading entire large files | Use offset/limit or grep first |
| Sequential searches | Combine with OR patterns |
| Repeating same searches | Cache results in memory |
| No context anchors | Write anchor every 10 ops |
| Not using sub-agents | Isolate exploration tasks |
| Forgetting discoveries | Save to memory entities |
Token Estimation: 1 line ~ 10-15 tokens | 1 page ~ 500 tokens | Avg file ~ 1-3K tokens
Thresholds: 50K: consider compression | 100K: required | 150K: critical - save & summarize
IMPORTANT Task Planning Notes
- •Always plan and break many small todo tasks
- •Always add a final review todo task to review the works done at the end to find any fix or enhancement needed