Libmagic-rs strategic-compact

Suggests manual context compaction at logical intervals to preserve context through task phases rather than arbitrary auto-compaction.

install

source · Clone the upstream repo

git clone https://github.com/EvilBit-Labs/libmagic-rs

Claude Code · Install into ~/.claude/skills/

T=$(mktemp -d) && git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/EvilBit-Labs/libmagic-rs "$T" && mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && cp -r "$T/.claude/skills/strategic-compact" ~/.claude/skills/evilbit-labs-libmagic-rs-strategic-compact && rm -rf "$T"

manifest: .claude/skills/strategic-compact/SKILL.md

source content

Strategic Compact

Suggests manual

/compact

at strategic points in your workflow rather than relying on arbitrary auto-compaction.

When to Activate

Running long sessions that approach context limits
Working on multi-phase tasks (research, plan, implement, test)
Switching between unrelated tasks within the same session
After completing a major milestone and starting new work
When responses slow down or become less coherent

Compaction Decision Guide

Phase Transition	Compact?	Why
Research / Planning	Yes	Research context is bulky; plan is the distilled output
Planning / Implementation	Yes	Plan is in TodoWrite or a file; free up context for code
Implementation / Testing	Maybe	Keep if tests reference recent code; compact if switching focus
Debugging / Next feature	Yes	Debug traces pollute context for unrelated work
Mid-implementation	No	Losing variable names, file paths, and partial state is costly
After a failed approach	Yes	Clear the dead-end reasoning before trying a new approach

What Survives Compaction

Persists	Lost
CLAUDE.md / AGENTS.md instructions	Intermediate reasoning and analysis
TodoWrite task list	File contents you previously read
Memory files ( `~/.claude/memory/` )	Multi-step conversation context
Git state (commits, branches)	Tool call history and counts
Files on disk	Nuanced user preferences stated verbally

Best Practices

Compact after planning -- Once plan is finalized in TodoWrite, compact to start fresh
Compact after debugging -- Clear error-resolution context before continuing
Don't compact mid-implementation -- Preserve context for related changes
Write before compacting -- Save important context to files or memory before compacting

Use
/compact
with a summary -- Add a custom message:

/compact Focus on implementing indirect offsets next

Rust-Specific Considerations

After reading large source files (evaluator/mod.rs at 2,638 lines), compact before implementation
After running
```
cargo test
```
with verbose output, compact if moving to different module
After architecture review or exploration, compact before starting refactoring work