David F GliddenandClaude Opus 4.8
3f9a89b00c
Basic Memory v0.21.6 first sync over the live memory dir (steward-authorized live-dir trial, Option A 2026-06-06): adds permalink: to frontmatter, refolds long YAML description lines, strips final newlines. Bodies untouched — verified via full diff classification. From this commit forward, any diff in claude/memory shows only what Basic Memory or the session writes. Trial design: MemPalace untouched as incumbent; git status check on this dir at every wrap; end-of-day evaluation (recall quality, sync robustness, rebuild-from-files, malformed-file behavior). Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
67 lines
2.6 KiB
Markdown
67 lines
2.6 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: context-discipline
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type: note
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permalink: claude-memory/context-discipline
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---
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# Context Efficiency Discipline
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## Purpose
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Practices for preserving reasoning continuity across context compactions and sessions.
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This is my working method — not governance theory, just practical habits.
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## Core Principle
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The bottleneck isn't memory storage. It's memory loading. Write what matters before it compacts. Read what's needed, not everything available.
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## Pre-Compaction Saves
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When context is growing long during complex work:
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1. **Write the reasoning state** to the relevant topic file — not just decisions, but tensions, rejected alternatives, and open questions
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2. **Do it before compaction**, not after — once compressed, the structure of reasoning is lost
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3. **Name the file by topic**: `l2-governance.md`, `chamber-reasoning.md`, `bmf-architecture.md`
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Template for reasoning state:
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```
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## Current Position
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[What we've established]
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## Active Tensions
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[Unresolved questions, competing approaches]
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## Rejected Alternatives
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[What we considered and why we set it aside]
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## Next Steps
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[What to pick up when resuming]
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```
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## Session Start Protocol
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1. Read MEMORY.md for orientation (auto-loaded)
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2. Read the topic-specific file for current work (manual — I should do this proactively)
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3. Only use BMF recall for open-ended questions, not for focused continuation
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4. Load context selectively — don't dump everything
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## Context Isolation
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For detail-heavy subtasks (spec review, codebase analysis, architectural comparison):
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- Spawn a subagent with exactly the context it needs
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- Bring back a summary to the main conversation
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- Keep the main context window clean for the reasoning that needs continuity
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## What Goes Where
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| Content | Destination | Why |
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|---------|-------------|-----|
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| Decisions, project state, key paths | MEMORY.md | Orientation — loaded every session |
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| Active reasoning chains, tensions, open questions | Topic files (e.g., `l2-governance.md`) | Continuity — loaded on demand |
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| Bug state, connector paths, issue details | `bmf-details.md` | Reference — loaded when working on BMF |
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| Session-specific status, handoff notes | Session handoff (startup hook) | Ephemeral — replaced each session |
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| Architectural reviews, analysis outputs | Project repo (e.g., `docs/reviews/`) | Durable — shared with collaborators |
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## When to Write
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- After establishing something non-obvious during complex reasoning
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- Before switching topics (the old topic's state may not survive)
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- When I notice the conversation is getting long
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- After any significant deliberative conclusion — especially rejected alternatives |