strategic-compact

To manage context window limits during multi-phase workflows, you should trigger manual context compaction at logical task boundaries. This strategy tracks tool-call activity and suggests compacting your session after milestones to retain essential conclusions while resetting the context.

You should compact context when transitioning between exploration, planning, and execution phases. A session-scoped counter tracks tool-call activity and flags you at configurable thresholds, indicating optimal phase boundaries to compact and carry forward only relevant information.

Configuring the compaction threshold involves setting the COMPACT_THRESHOLD variable in your environment. This adjusts the session-scoped counter that tracks tool calls, determining exactly when the PreToolUse hooks will display compact recommendations to the user.

Strategic compaction requires manual approval and does not execute automatically. The system uses PreToolUse hooks to display compact recommendations at configurable intervals, guiding the user or agent to manually decide when to preserve context through task transitions.

A key limitation of using session hooks for context management is that it relies on manual execution rather than automatic compaction. The system only suggests compaction at configured tool-call thresholds, meaning users must actively approve and manage context preservation during long sessions.