Borrowing it
Nothing to install: this file belongs to saski/arnesto. Take a copy, put it at the same path in your own repository, and replace the rules that are about this project with yours.
curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/saski/arnesto/main/.agents/skills/strategic-compact/SKILL.mdgit clone --depth 1 https://github.com/saski/arnestoWrote this? Show the measurements
A badge with what this costs and how it scanned, read live from this page, so it follows the numbers instead of freezing them. Markdown for a README, HTML for a documentation site or a project page.
[](https://agentmods.dev/skills/saski/arnesto/strategic-compact)<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/saski/arnesto/strategic-compact"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/saski/arnesto/strategic-compact.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>What it costs to keep this loaded
Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.
| Model | Per session | Once invoked |
|---|---|---|
| Fable 5.1 | $0.00027 | $0.00876 |
| Opus 5 | $0.00014 | $0.00438 |
| Sonnet 5 | $0.00005 | $0.00175 |
| Haiku 4.5 | $0.00003 | $0.00088 |
Grade B, and why
strategic-compact scanned grade B with 1 finding against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 3d ago.
A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.
Reads agent configuration directoriesmediumAgent snooping
.claude/, .codex/, .gemini/ hold keys, settings and other credentials a mod has no legitimate need for.
Add to your `~/.claude/settings.json`: This is a copy
100% identical to strategic-compact — 0 lines differ, which has more behind it and is treated as the original. This page carries a canonical link to it rather than competing with it.
How it starts
The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 104 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.
Strategic Compact Skill
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 (200K+ tokens)
- 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 (context pressure)
Why Strategic Compaction?
Auto-compaction triggers at arbitrary points:
- Often mid-task, losing important context
- No awareness of logical task boundaries
- Can interrupt complex multi-step operations
Strategic compaction at logical boundaries:
- After exploration, before execution — Compact research context, keep implementation plan
- After completing a milestone — Fresh start for next phase
- Before major context shifts — Clear exploration context before different task
How It Works
The suggest-compact.js script runs on PreToolUse (Edit/Write) and:
- Tracks tool calls — Counts tool invocations in session
- Threshold detection — Suggests at configurable threshold (default: 50 calls)
- Periodic reminders — Reminds every 25 calls after threshold
Hook Setup
Add to your ~/.claude/settings.json:
{
"hooks": {
"PreToolUse": [
{
"matcher": "Edit",
"hooks": [{ "type": "command", "command": "node ~/.claude/skills/strategic-compact/suggest-compact.js" }]
},
{
"matcher": "Write",
"hooks": [{ "type": "command", "command": "node ~/.claude/skills/strategic-compact/suggest-compact.js" }]
}
]
}
}
Configuration
Environment variables:
COMPACT_THRESHOLD— Tool calls before first suggestion (default: 50)
Compaction Decision Guide
Use this table to decide when to compact:
| 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 ships with it
2 files beside SKILL.md in the same directory: the scripts, references and assets a skill reads on demand. Not counted in the per-session cost; read them before you install if any of them is executable.
What this file has done since we first saw it
Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.
- 3d ago First seen · 104 lines · 27 tokens per session scan B c83c4c9d60d3
strategic-compact is a skill published in the GitHub repository saski/arnesto (5 stars, last pushed today), licensed Unlicense. It adds 27 tokens to every session and 876 once invoked, about $0.0001 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it B with 1 finding (reads agent configuration directories). It is 100% identical to strategic-compact, differing in 0 lines, and is treated as a copy.
Other skills, from other repositories
readonly-review
Run a no-network read-only review practice with two explorer steps and one synthesis step.
repo-harness-assessment
Use when evaluating repository agent-readiness, mapping harness roles, choosing the next smallest improvement, or designing and reconciling agent entrypoints such as AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, GEMINI.md, Cursor rules, or GitHub instructions.
work-state-and-delivery
Use when designing or reconciling design docs, task boards, external trackers, execution plans, delivery records, handoffs, review evidence, task-to-change traceability, or repository commit-coupling policy.
repo-contracts-and-boundaries
Use when turning architecture, layering, ownership, dependency direction, schemas, structural metrics, quality thresholds, baselines, allowlists, or generated quality snapshots into repository checks.
runtime-evidence-and-tracing
Use when connecting observed behavior, logs, metrics, request IDs, run IDs, screenshots, traces, external dependency results, or artifacts into a runtime evidence loop.
validation-harness-design
Use when designing repository validation commands, doctor scripts, test matrices, JSON or JUnit outputs, CI gates, smoke checks, or harness command surfaces.