principle-guard-the-context-window
Skill2 starsChanged 3 months agoMITView on GitHub
Apply when context is filling up: large outputs, long files, repeated reads, fan-out planning. Route bulk to subagents; keep summaries in the main thread, not raw payloads.
We split this skill into the rules it gives an agent
1 rule. 1 is common, 0 are distinctive, and 0 are very specific to this project.
1
Common
Most of the 16 edited versions we read keep these.
0
Distinctive
This author's own choices. Worth a look.
0
Very specific
Tied to their project's names, files or tools. Probably skip.
- Common
- Distinctive
- Very specific
- Common: line 15
Don't read what you won't use: Read selectively based on relevance.
“Common” is measured: kept by at least 6 in 10 of the 16 edited versions of this file we could read. “Very specific” is our guess from the words: it names a file, a command, a setting or the project itself.
Files
Guard the Context Window
The context window is finite and non-renewable within a session. Every token that enters should earn its place.
Why: Context overflow degrades reasoning quality, creates compression artifacts, and halts progress. Unlike compute or time, context spent inside a session cannot be reclaimed.
Pattern:
- Isolate large payloads. Route verbose outputs, screenshots, and large documents to subagents. The main context gets summaries, not raw data.
- Don't read what you won't use. Read selectively based on relevance. If a file isn't needed for the current task, skip it.
- Keep frequently used content inline. Templates and references used on every invocation belong in the skill file, not in separate files that cost a read each time.
- Size phases and cap scope. Limit files per phase, set turn budgets, account for mechanism costs.
Other versions42 projects use a version of this.
Word for word · 4
- kkgogogo17/pi-pstack★ 9100% same
- 0xrsydn/pstack-pi★ 3100% same
- ahmedgcompany-cyber/pstack-claude★ 0100% same
- eryzerz/prime-pstack★ 0100% same
Edited · 37
- backnotprop/pstack★ 2.7k87% same
- jtaroreh/agystack★ 12882% same
- uzairansaruzi/p3-stack★ 12678% same
- dsebban/skills★ 7187% same
- Scino/fstack★ 1896% same
- mariusflorescu/pstack-t3★ 987% same
- creedants/pstack-t3★ 880% same
- adjohn/pstack★ 487% same
- alexnthnz/keel★ 487% same
- painhardcore/pstack★ 498% same
27 more not listed
Wrote their own version · 1
- TheOnlyFusionCube/potetos-for-everyone★ 5same name
How matches are found. Word for word: the exact same text. Edited: shares passages with this file (“99% same” means 99% of its five-word phrases also appear here; 10% or more counts). Their own version: similar meaning, or, weakest, the same name. We can’t tell which project had it first. Projects are counted among the 200 most-starred candidates, and mentions are links to the repository we found, up to 50 per site, so both counts are a floor.
Used alongsideProjects with it also use principle-explain-the-number, make-bot-ui and 9 more.
Other files people use alongside this one.
Files found in the same public projects as a version of this one, more often than they turn up anywhere else. Each project counts once, large collections count for less, and this file's own repository is left out.
juancamiloqhzSkillprinciple-explain-the-number
Apply before you trust, report, or act on a number you measured: a speedup, a regression, a throughput, a latency, or an eval result. Find what limits it, and rule out that it measured something other than the work you think.
Also in 18 projects that use this
Xia-AtaraxiaSkillmake-bot-ui
Builds a small web page whose buttons wake an agent over a webhook: a local server keeps the sender key server-side and POSTs JSON to a webhook-triggered routine, and the page is exposed on the existing Tailscale node. Use for \"make a bot UI\", \"a dashboard with buttons that trigger the agent\", \"wake the bot from a page\", handing a webhook sender key to the server without pasting it in chat, or putting that UI on the tailnet. Not for general frontend work - use principle-frontend; not for tailnet health or reachability - use tailscale.
Also in 15 projects that use this
ianclearySkillpoteto-help
Guides users through pstack setup, /poteto-mode, and picking the skill, playbook, or principle for a task. Type /poteto-help with a question.
Also in 8 projects that use this
Xia-AtaraxiaSkillbenchmark-checklist
Vets performance measurements for the limiter, tuning, physical limits, errors, repeatability, relevance, and proof that timed work happened. It applies to 'check this benchmark', 'report this speedup', measured regressions, and choosing a library or configuration from numbers. It reports spread and gaps before drawing a conclusion. Not for general testing policy or choosing test oracles - use principle-testing.
Also in 16 projects that use this
fullerzzSkillcreate-formal-verification-skill
Generate a reusable project-local skill for model checking or proving code-linked properties. Use explicitly for /create-formal-verification-skill, model-checking a race, or proving an invariant; UI and service journey checks belong to create-verification-skill.
Also in 4 projects that use this
alexnthnzSkillin-your-own-words
Restate in your own words what you think the user's goals are and what problem they're trying to solve. Use for /keel:in-your-own-words.
Also in 7 projects that use this
In this repository39 other files it gives its agents.
- architectSkill
- arenaSkill
- automate-meSkill
- blast-radiusSkill
- create-verification-skillSkill
- figure-it-outSkill
- howSkill
- interrogateSkill
- maintain-verification-skillSkill
- poteto-modeSkill
- principle-boundary-disciplineSkill
- principle-build-the-leverSkill
- principle-encode-lessons-in-structureSkill
- principle-exhaust-the-design-spaceSkill
- principle-experience-firstSkill
- principle-fix-root-causesSkill
- principle-foundational-thinkingSkill
- principle-laziness-protocolSkill
- principle-make-operations-idempotentSkill
- principle-migrate-callers-then-delete-legacy-apisSkill
- principle-minimize-reader-loadSkill
- principle-model-the-domainSkill
- principle-never-block-on-the-humanSkill
- principle-outcome-oriented-executionSkill
- principle-prove-it-worksSkill
- principle-redesign-from-first-principlesSkill
- principle-separate-before-serializing-shared-stateSkill
- principle-sequence-verifiable-unitsSkill
- principle-subtract-before-you-addSkill
- principle-type-system-disciplineSkill
- recallSkill
- reflectSkill
- setup-pstackSkill
- show-me-your-workSkill
- tddSkill
- teachSkill
- typescript-best-practicesSkill
- unslopSkill
- whySkill
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