chat-compactor

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Generate structured session summaries optimized for future AI agent consumption. Use when (1) ending a coding/debugging session, (2) user says "compact", "summarize session", "save context", or "wrap up", (3) context window is getting long and continuity matters, (4) before switching tasks or taking a break. Produces machine-readable handoff documents that let the next session start fluently without re-explaining.

1installs

Sourcezhanlincui/ultimate-agent-skills-collection

Added on2026-02-07

NPX Install

npx skill4agent add zhanlincui/ultimate-agent-skills-collection chat-compactor

SKILL.md Content

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Chat Compactor

Generate structured summaries optimized for AI agent continuity across sessions.

Why This Exists

Human-written summaries and ad-hoc AI summaries lose critical context:

Decision rationale gets lost (why X, not Y)
Dead ends get forgotten (agent re-tries failed approaches)
Implicit knowledge isn't captured (file locations, naming conventions, gotchas)
State is unclear (what's done, what's pending, what's blocked)

This skill produces agent-optimized handoff documents that prime the next session.

Output Format

Generate a markdown file with this structure:

markdown

# Session: [Brief Title]
Date: [YYYY-MM-DD]
Duration: ~[X] messages

## Context Snapshot
[1-2 sentences: What project/task, what state it's in right now]

## What Was Accomplished
- [Concrete outcome 1]
- [Concrete outcome 2]

## Key Decisions & Rationale
| Decision | Why | Alternatives Rejected |
|----------|-----|----------------------|
| [Choice] | [Reason] | [What didn't work and why] |

## Current State
- **Working**: [files/features that are functional]
- **Broken/Blocked**: [what's not working and why]
- **Modified files**: [list with brief note on changes]

## Dead Ends (Don't Retry)
- ❌ [Approach that failed] — [why it failed]

## Next Steps (Prioritized)
1. [ ] [Most important next action]
2. [ ] [Second priority]

## Environment & Gotchas
- [Any setup notes, versions, quirks discovered]

## Key Code/Commands Reference
[Only if there are non-obvious commands or snippets the next session needs]

Workflow

Scan conversation for: decisions, outcomes, failures, file changes, blockers
Identify the "handoff moment" — what would a fresh agent need to continue?
Generate structured summary using format above

Save to file:

session-[topic]-[date].md

in project root or

/home/claude/sessions/

Compaction Triggers

Invoke this skill when:

User says: "compact", "wrap up", "save session", "summarize for next time"
Context window exceeds ~50% capacity and task is ongoing
Before major context switches
End of debugging/implementation session

Quality Criteria

Good compactions are:

Scannable: Next agent gets orientation in <30 seconds
Actionable: Clear next steps, not vague summaries
Defensive: Dead ends documented to prevent re-exploration
Minimal: No fluff, every line earns its tokens

Anti-Patterns

Avoid:

Narrative prose ("First we tried X, then Y, then Z...")
Redundant context (don't repeat what's in code comments)
Vague summaries ("Made good progress on the feature")
Missing failure documentation (most valuable part!)

Example Trigger & Response

User: "Let's wrap up, compact this session"

Agent:

Reviews conversation for key decisions, outcomes, failures
Generates structured markdown per format above
Saves to
```
session-[topic]-[date].md
```
Confirms: "Session compacted to
```
session-auth-refactor-2025-01-06.md
```
— ready for next time."