progressive-disclosure

Manage context window token limits by loading governance documents progressively in five hierarchical layers. This approach ensures agents only ingest necessary information, enforcing size caps and revealing deeper layers strictly on demand to prevent token bloat.

Loading all project context at session start wastes tokens, slows processing, and obscures relevant information. To avoid this anti-pattern, apply progressive context loading to reveal documents in layered steps, pulling only the minimal layer initially.

The best way to structure governance documents for on-demand loading is organizing them into five hierarchical layers: Identity, Package, Capability, History, and Planning. This prioritizes essential information and enforces disciplined authoring through specific size caps.

Allocate token budget across system prompts, code, and governance docs by applying context budget guidance. Load only the identity layer at session start, then request package-level details only when modifications are needed to keep the token budget under control.

You can enforce size limits on context files to avoid token bloat by using progressive loading rules. This mechanism applies strict size caps to each document type and automatically loads the minimal required layer according to specific usage rules.

Request deeper context layers during a development session only when you need more detail to perform a specific task. For example, load the identity layer first, then pull package-level details solely if you need to modify that particular package.