The Context Manager skill helps you optimize conversation context to maintain Claude's effectiveness throughout long sessions. It tracks context window usage, identifies when to summarize or prune context, and helps you structure conversations to keep relevant information accessible while staying within token limits.
This skill is essential for complex, multi-day projects where conversation history grows large. It helps you decide what to preserve, what to summarize, and what to discard, ensuring Claude maintains awareness of important decisions and project state without hitting context limits.
Use this skill proactively during long development sessions, before starting new major features, or when you notice performance degradation due to context bloat.
Core Workflows
Workflow 1: Monitor Context Health
Check
current context usage:
Token count
Percentage of limit
Recent growth rate
Analyze
context composition:
How much is code?
How much is conversation?
How much is documentation?
Identify
problematic areas:
Redundant information
Outdated references
Irrelevant tangents
Assess
risk level:
Green: <50% usage, healthy
Yellow: 50-75% usage, monitor
Red: >75% usage, take action
Recommend
actions if needed
Report
status to user
Workflow 2: Summarize Long Conversation
Review
conversation history
Extract
key information:
Decisions made
Problems solved
Current project state
Open questions
Next steps
Organize
by topic/timeline
Create
concise summary
Validate
with user
Suggest
starting new thread with summary
Workflow 3: Prune Irrelevant Context
Identify
candidates for removal:
Resolved issues
Abandoned approaches
Temporary debugging
Superseded information
Categorize
by importance:
Safe to remove
Could summarize
Must preserve
Propose
pruning plan to user
Execute
approved removals
Preserve
critical context
Verify
coherence after pruning
Workflow 4: Optimize Context Structure
Analyze
current context organization
Identify
inefficiencies:
Information scattered across conversation
Redundant explanations
Lack of structure
Restructure
for efficiency:
Group related information
Create reference sections
Use concise formats
Suggest
external documentation for:
Architecture decisions
API specifications
Configuration details
Link
to external docs instead of inlining
Validate
improved efficiency
Quick Reference
Action
Command/Trigger
Check context status
"Check context window" or "How's our context?"
Summarize conversation
"Summarize this conversation"
Start fresh with summary
"Start new thread with summary"
Prune old context
"Clear old context" or "Prune conversation"
Optimize context structure
"Optimize our context"
Preserve key decisions
"Document key decisions"
Estimate context usage
"How much context are we using?"
Best Practices
Monitor Proactively
Don't wait for performance issues
Check context before starting major features
Monitor after long debugging sessions
Review weekly on long-running projects
Summarize Regularly
Compress history at natural breakpoints
End of feature development
After resolving major issues
Before switching contexts (dev → deployment)
Externalize Static Info
Move unchanging content to files
Architecture docs
API specifications
Code style guides
Reference materials
Use Structured Formats
Make information dense and scannable
Tables instead of prose
Bullet points instead of paragraphs
Code blocks instead of descriptions
Preserve Decisions
Always keep the "why"
Why this approach was chosen
Why alternatives were rejected
What constraints influenced decisions
Discard Aggressively
Be ruthless with temporary content
Debugging exploration
Failed experiments
Resolved issues
Superseded plans
Start Fresh Strategically
Know when to begin new conversation
After major milestones
When switching to unrelated work
When context is >75% full
When performance degrades
Document Externally
Use files for persistent knowledge
PIPELINE_STATUS.md for project state
DECISIONS.md for architecture choices
TODO.md for task lists
README.md for onboarding
Context Optimization Strategies
Strategy 1: Hierarchical Summarization
Long conversation →
Detailed summary (50% reduction) →
Executive summary (80% reduction) →
Key decisions (95% reduction)
Strategy 2: Time-Based Windowing
Keep in context:
- Last 1 hour: Full detail
- Last 4 hours: Summarized
- Last day: Key decisions only
- Older: Link to external docs
Strategy 3: Topic-Based Partitioning
Separate threads for:
- Feature development
- Bug investigation
- Deployment/ops
- Architecture discussion
Link between threads as needed
Strategy 4: Progressive Disclosure
Start with:
- Current task context only
Add on demand:
- Related decisions
- Relevant code
- Background information
Remove when done
Context Health Checklist
Before starting a major task, verify:
Context usage < 75%
Recent decisions documented
Obsolete information removed
Current project state clear
Next steps identified
Relevant files/docs linked
Debugging traces cleaned up
Warning Signs of Context Issues
Watch for these indicators:
Responses get slower
Processing large context
Information ignored
AI misses recent context
Repetition
AI re-explains known information
Loss of coherence
AI forgets earlier decisions
Token limit warnings
Approaching hard limits
Degraded accuracy
Mistakes in previously solid areas
External Memory Strategies
Move these to files, not context:
Information Type
Best Storage
Project overview
README.md
Architecture decisions
ARCHITECTURE.md or ADRs
API contracts
OpenAPI spec or schema files
Current project state
PIPELINE_STATUS.md or TODO.md
Configuration
.env, config files
Code style rules
.eslintrc, prettier.config.js
Deployment process
DEPLOYMENT.md or CI/CD config
Team decisions
DECISIONS.md or meeting notes
Context Templates
Project State Summary Template
Project: [Name]
**
Status
**
[Current pipeline stage]
**
Current focus
**
[What we're working on]
**
Last completed
**
[Recent achievement]
**
Next steps
**
[Immediate tasks]
**
Blockers
**
[What's preventing progress]
**
Key decisions
**
[Recent important choices]
Decision Log Template
Decision: [Topic]
**
Date
**
[When]
**
Context
**
[Why we needed to decide]
**
Options considered
**
[Alternatives]
**
Choice
**
[What we decided]
**
Rationale
**
[Why this choice]
**
Consequences
**
[Trade-offs accepted]
Session Summary Template
Session Summary: [Date]
**
Duration
**
[How long]
**
Accomplished
**
[What we built/fixed]
**
Decisions
**
[Choices made]
**
Issues found
**
[Problems discovered]
**
Next session
**
[Where to continue]
Advanced: Context Compression Techniques
For power users:
Use references
Link to code instead of pasting
"See function
processData
in
/src/utils/data.ts
"
Instead of: [pasting entire function]
Leverage AI memory
Store in knowledge graph
Key relationships between entities
Project-specific terminology
Team member roles and expertise
Create abbreviations
Define once, use everywhere
"FE" = Frontend, "BE" = Backend
"MR" = Merge Request, "PR" = Pull Request
Project-specific acronyms
Use diff format
Show changes, not entire files
Especially for code reviews
Before/after comparisons
Batch similar information
Group related items
All env vars in one block
All API endpoints in table
All dependencies in list