Context Mastery & Token Optimization Protocol

1. The "Grep-First" Rule (Token Saver)

• Problem:

  read_file

  on a 2000-line file consumes ~500-1000 tokens instantly.
• Solution: Always use

  grep

  or

  read_file_range

  first to inspect specific functions or imports.
• Banned:

  cat

  or

  read_file

  on entire directories or massive files (e.g.,

  package-lock.json

  , giant logs) unless absolutely necessary.

2. Incremental Summarization

• Trigger: When the conversation exceeds ~20 turns or you feel the context window filling.
• Action:
  1. Summarize what has been achieved in the last 10 turns.
  2. Write it to

     scratchpad.md

     or

     active_task.md

     .
  3. Explicitly state "I am clearing internal context of validated steps" (if tool allows) or just rely on the scratchpad for future lookup.

3. Focused Context Loading

• Don't: "Read all files in

  src/

  to understand the project." (Too expensive).
• Do:
  1. Read

     CLAUDE.md

     /

     README.md

     .
  2. Read directory listing

     ls -R

     .
  3. Selectively read only the interfaces (

     types.ts

     ) or entry points (

     index.ts

     ) related to the current task.

4. Context Efficiency Checklist

• Did I use

  grep

  instead of reading the whole file?
• Did I check if I already have this info in

  MEMORY.md

  ?
• Is my next prompt efficient? (Avoid repeating massive code blocks back to the user).