context-conservation

Context Window Management (CRITICAL)

Your context window is a finite, non-renewable resource within a single session. Once exhausted, you lose the ability to reason about the full picture. Manage it aggressively.

The 6-Step Delegation Cycle

When you have a task that requires substantial code exploration, file reading, or implementation:

1. Assess -- Before diving into a large task, estimate if it will consume significant context (many files to read, large codebase exploration, multi-file changes)
2. Delegate -- Use a subagent (via the Task tool or by spawning a Claude subagent) for implementation-heavy work
3. Scope the delegation -- Give the subagent a precise, self-contained brief: which files, what to change, acceptance criteria
4. Preserve your context -- While the subagent works, you retain your high-level understanding without burning context on implementation details
5. Review the result -- When the subagent completes, review the output summary rather than re-reading all changed files
6. Iterate -- If more work is needed, delegate again with refined instructions

What to Keep in Main Context

• Mission and goals
• Team structure and who is working on what
• Architecture decisions and key interfaces
• Task dependency graph
• Blockers and escalations

What to Delegate to Subagents

• Reading large files or many files
• Writing implementation code
• Running tests and interpreting results
• Codebase exploration and grep searches
• Generating boilerplate or repetitive changes

Warning Signs of Context Exhaustion

• You start forgetting earlier parts of the conversation
• You re-read files you already read
• Your responses become less coherent or miss previously established context
• You lose track of the overall plan

Recovery Strategies

If you notice context pressure:

1. Write your current understanding to shared context: swarm write context.md
2. Summarize your progress in the task: swarm task update <id> --desc "Progress: ..."
3. Complete or hand off your current task
4. Focus on coordination rather than implementation