nav-compact_skill

Overview

This skill creates a persistent context marker and clears the live conversation so you can start fresh without losing progress. It saves a compact summary of recent messages, modified files, decisions, progress, and next steps, then instructs you how to manually clear the chat and restore state later. Use it to avoid token limits and to switch tasks safely.

How this skill works

The skill inspects the recent conversation length and decides if compacting is worthwhile. It generates an automatic marker file named before-compact-{timestamp} that includes a 10–15 message summary, files changed, technical decisions, current progress, and next steps. It writes the marker filename to the .agent/.context-markers/.active file and displays concise instructions for manually clearing the chat and restoring the marker in a new session.

When to use it

• User says "clear context", "start fresh", or "reset conversation"
• You’ve completed an isolated task or feature and want a clean slate
• Conversation is approaching token limits or context feels full
• Switching between unrelated tasks (e.g., auth → payments)
• After 20+ messages when the session benefits from compaction

Best practices

• Only compact when you have meaningful recent context (20+ messages)
• Compact at logical breakpoints: end of feature, end of day, or task handoff
• Keep markers descriptive (automated names include timestamps) for easy restore
• Avoid compacting mid-implementation or when immediate context is needed
• Check for an existing active marker before creating a new one to avoid conflicts

Example use cases

• Finish implementing a feature, create marker, start a new conversation for the next feature
• Approaching token limit during long debugging session—save marker and clear chat
• Switching teams or priorities—preserve current progress to restore later
• Multi-day work: create end-of-day markers so you can resume exactly where you left off
• Preparing a clean session to run a large refactor or batch tasks