| name | context-fork-guide |
| description | Use when creating or modifying skills that do heavy research, search, or multi-tool work. Adds context:fork to isolate skill execution in a separate context window, keeping the main session clean. Trigger on "keep context clean", "skill is bloating my context", "run this in a separate window", or when building any research/search skill. |
Context Fork Guide — Isolate Heavy Skills
When building skills that perform heavy operations (vault search, codebase exploration,
multi-file analysis, research), add context: fork to the frontmatter. This runs the
skill in a separate context window so only the final summary returns to your main session.
When to Fork
Fork when the skill will:
- Read more than 5 files
- Run multiple searches or grep operations
- Pull external data (web, API, database)
- Perform exploratory work where dead-ends are expected
Do NOT fork when:
- The skill modifies files in the current project (needs main context)
- The skill is conversational (needs prior chat history)
- The output is a single lookup (overhead not worth it)
How to Apply
Add one line to any SKILL.md frontmatter:
---
name: your-skill-name
description: Your skill description
context: fork
---
That's it. The skill now runs in an isolated context window.
The Pattern: Research Skill with Fork
---
name: deep-research
description: Search vault, codebase, and web for context on a topic.
context: fork
---
# Deep Research
1. Search Obsidian vault for notes matching the topic
2. Grep the codebase for related code patterns
3. Web search for current best practices
4. Return a structured summary:
- Key findings (bullet points)
- Relevant file paths
- Recommended next steps
Output ONLY the summary. All intermediate search results stay in the forked context.
Verification
After adding context: fork to a skill:
- Run
/context to check token count before invoking the skill
- Invoke the skill
- Run
/context again — token increase should be minimal (summary only)
- Compare with running the same skill without the fork line
Existing Skills to Consider Forking
Review /home/user/.claude/skills/ for skills that do heavy search or research.
Candidates: any skill that reads multiple files, runs searches, or pulls external data.
Add context: fork to their frontmatter and test.
Source
Extracted from: 3 Claude Code Features You'll Wish You Knew Sooner by Mark Kashef (AI Automation Society), March 19, 2026.
