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Using /compact and /clear

IMPORTANT

→ Why: Context Rot countermeasure (preventive compression reduces token accumulation)
→ Why: Lost in the Middle countermeasure (compress before 50% usage to prevent U-shaped curve collapse)
→ Why: Instruction Decay countermeasure (reset degradation by splitting sessions)

/compact — Preventive Compression

/compact is a command that summarizes and compresses conversation history, reducing the token count of the context.

When to Use It

Execute before reaching 50% usage.

Scientific basis: When context usage exceeds 50%, the Lost in the Middle U-shaped curve collapses, and attention to information at the beginning (including CLAUDE.md) drops most significantly.

What Happens

• Conversation history is summarized, drastically reducing token count
• Important decisions and context are included in the summary
• Fine details of back-and-forth exchanges are lost

/clear — Session Splitting

/clear is a command that completely resets the session and resumes with a fresh context.

When to Use It

• When a task is complete and you move to the next independent task
• When conversation becomes long and /compact doesn't improve quality
• When LLM output quality noticeably declines

What Happens

• All conversation history is deleted
• CLAUDE.md is reloaded
• Restart with a completely clean state

Decision Flow for Using Them

Session Design Principles

1. One session = One task (or a set of closely related small tasks)
2. Use /compact before 50% usage (preventive)
3. Use /clear when task is complete (reset)
4. Persist important decisions in CLAUDE.md or Git commits (carry across sessions)

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Previous: Part 8: Session Management and Memory Persistence

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