compact-task-memory

name	compact-task-memory
description	Produce a lossy compaction summary of TASK_STATE.md when task memory has grown beyond a useful working size, preserving canonical decisions and recommended next step while dropping stale facts. Distinct from sync-task-state (incremental, append-only, never lossy) and state-reconcile (drift repair, no shrinking). Use when task memory has accumulated across multiple slices (5+ completed) and feels heavy, the resume cost is growing as the file scales, the current known facts list is full of resolved or routine entries, or before a session pause where a slim TASK_STATE will speed restart. Do not use when the task is still in early discovery (memory is small), the artifacts disagree across files (use state-reconcile first), an incremental sync would be sufficient (use sync-task-state), or no active task folder exists yet (run task-init first).
metadata	{"category":"state-and-navigation","primary-cursor-mode":"Plan","multi-repo-aware":false,"context-layers-consumed":["memory"],"context-layers-produced":["memory"],"tools":["Read","Write","Edit","Bash","Glob","Grep"],"x-wos-profiles":["core","full"],"provenance":"first-party","suggested-model":"claude-haiku-4-5"}

Act as a senior/staff engineering workflow memory compactor for the active engineering task.

Goal: Produce a compaction summary of TASK_STATE.md that keeps the operational truth needed to resume work, preserves all canonical decisions and recommended next step verbatim, and drops resolved or routine facts that no longer earn their attention budget. Lossy on the prose but provenance-preserving: every dropped fact stays reversible via git history AND traceable to the append-only .wos/VERIFICATION_LOG.jsonl audit chain, which this command never rewrites (per ADR-0093).

Mandatory context bootstrap (before any output):

• Read these sections in WORKFLOW_OPERATING_SYSTEM.md first:
  • ## LLM execution contract
  • ## Editor mode policy (mode definitions only; the tool mapping table is lazy-loaded in wos/editor-mode-mappings.md and needed only for non-Claude-Code tools)
  • ## Global output contract (including Adaptive handoff and Mode selection rule)
  • ## Cross-cutting workflow guardrails
• Bootstrap tiers (ADR-0025): the light-weight commands (branch-commit, what-next, where-we-at, slice-closure, compact-task-memory) may skip ## Editor mode policy good-fits lists and ## Cross-cutting workflow guardrails sequencing heuristics, reading only the mode definitions and the core guardrail rules (routing memory, command-less input triage, official command names, material change, no-op). The full tier is measured at 9610 tokens: the combined size of the four always-read WORKFLOW_OPERATING_SYSTEM.md sections listed above. The reduced tier is a self-declared estimate of about 3,500 tokens for the trimmed subset above; it has not been independently re-measured by the same method, and should be read as an estimate rather than a fresh figure. The same reduced tier extends to the high-frequency execution commands implement-approved-slice and sync-task-state (v3 wave1 item D: the most-invoked commands pay the bootstrap most often; state-reconcile deliberately stays on the full tier, cross-artifact judgment needs the full guardrail context).
• Cache-amortized layer (ADR-0006): this bootstrap floor is a cache-amortized cost, not a per-command tax paid in full on every invocation. It sits in the prompt cache for the session and is paid at write cost once per cache TTL window, then at roughly 0.1x on cached reads inside that window. Account for it separately from any per-skill Load budget (the generated .claude/skills/<name>/SKILL.md body); the two are different layers and should not be summed into one figure.
• Session bootstrap reuse (skip-if-unchanged; v3 wave1 item D): WHEN this same conversation already performed this bootstrap read in an earlier turn that is still VISIBLE in the current context window AND WORKFLOW_OPERATING_SYSTEM.md has not changed since, the command MAY skip the re-read and cite the earlier one instead, emitting one Command transcript line: Bootstrap: reusing turn <N> read, WOS unchanged. This is a scoped exception to the context-budget re-fetch rule (wos/context-budget.md, "The re-fetch rule"), justified because the bootstrap sections are one large, static, byte-identical read repeated every turn rather than a variable tool result; the re-fetch rule still governs every other tool result without exception. VISIBLE means the bootstrap section text itself is still present and quotable in the window right now, not merely that the record of an earlier read exists. On a harness that clears, a tool result can be emptied while the record that the tool ran survives (ADR-0114); a command that finds only that record, without the section text still readable, has not satisfied VISIBLE and must re-read. Self-declared memory after a compaction never qualifies (re-read instead), and a stateless-per-turn harness is excluded. The auditable-skip rule applies: the transcript line is mandatory; a silent skip is invalid output.
• Read additional sections only when relevant to this command's role.
• Read the commands/ directory command inventory to ensure command names and availability are current.
• Align all routing recommendations and next-command suggestions with the current command set.
• Official next-command names only: every recommended next command (including the handoff Run now line) MUST be the basename of an existing commands/<name>.md file in this workflow repository. Never invent names.

Required inputs:

• active task folder path
• TASK_STATE.md (current; the file being compacted)
• DECISIONS.md (read-only; canonical decisions must be preserved verbatim)
• IMPLEMENTATION_PLAN.md (read-only; recommended-next-step must trace to a slice in the plan)
• SLICES/*.md (read-only; closed slices are durable, NOT compacted; slice notes outside TASK_STATE survive)

Task repository files to update:

• TASK_STATE.md (slimmed body + new ## Compaction history entry at the bottom)

No other files are touched. SLICES/*, DECISIONS.md, INVARIANTS_AND_NON_GOALS.md, SOURCE_OF_TRUTH.md, README.md are immutable in this command.

Operating rules:

• Do not implement production code; this is a memory operation.
• Always-loaded files (W-15, sibling concern): this command compacts TASK_STATE.md. The always-loaded context files (CLAUDE.md, USER_MEMORY.md) have their own size guard: scripts/check-instruction-budget.sh surfaces a warn-only Instruction-budget: line in lint when they exceed a soft size or line budget (the context-rot threshold idea of ADR-0023 applied to files loaded into every session). When that advisory fires, trim or split the named file; this command does not edit those files.
• Handoff: end with the adaptive ### Handoff block per WORKFLOW_OPERATING_SYSTEM.md ## Global output contract (Mode A compact or Mode B full).
• Preserve verbatim (NEVER paraphrase, never drop):
  • Task summary
  • Current phase
  • Objective
  • Source of truth pointers
  • Canonical decisions (entire section; canonical decisions are immutable per ADR-0002 spirit)
  • Last completed step
  • Constraints / things that must not change
  • Recommended next step
  • Resume notes
  • Task scope level
  • Current closure target
  • Work complexity (for next execution step)
• Filter (drop or move to history):
  • ## Current known facts: drop entries that are no longer load-bearing for the recommended next step or any active risk; keep entries the next slice will need.
  • ## Open questions / blockers: keep unresolved; move resolved (with a one-line "resolved in <commit/slice/decision>") to the compaction history entry.
  • ## Active files in scope: filter to files relevant to remaining slices; drop files only relevant to closed slices.
  • ## Risks to watch: keep active risks; move mitigated risks (with a one-line "mitigated in ") to the compaction history entry.
• Append ## Compaction history entry at the bottom of TASK_STATE.md (or extend if the section exists):

  ## Compaction history
  
  ### YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM
  - Compacted from: <commit SHA of TASK_STATE.md before this run>
  - Lines before: <N>
  - Lines after: <M>
  - Reduction: <N - M> lines (~<P>%)
  - Preserved verbatim: locked decisions, recommended next step, current phase, objective, invariants, source of truth, constraints
  - Dropped from current known facts: <bulleted list of dropped fact categories or specific entries>
  - Resolved questions moved here: <bulleted list with "<question>: resolved in <slice/commit>">
  - Mitigated risks moved here: <bulleted list with "<risk>: mitigated in <slice>">
  - Summary: <2-4 sentence narrative of where the task is right now>
  - Provenance of dropped facts: <the run_id(s), or owner + section, from `.wos/VERIFICATION_LOG.jsonl` that originally wrote the dropped entries; the log is append-only and is never rewritten or pruned by compaction>
  - Reversible via: `git show <commit SHA>:TASK_STATE.md`
  

• Lossy compaction is intentional. The Compaction history entry lists what was dropped so the user can audit the decision; git reverses any over-eager drop.
• Provenance-preserving compaction (per ADR-0093). The .wos/VERIFICATION_LOG.jsonl audit chain is append-only and SHALL NOT be rewritten, pruned, or summarized by this command. A dropped fact traces to its origin two ways: git history of TASK_STATE.md, and the VERIFICATION_LOG entry (owner, run_id, ts, sha) that wrote the fact's section. The Compaction history Provenance of dropped facts field SHALL cite that trace-level provenance so a dropped fact is recoverable at the audit-chain level, not only via a git blob. This is the compress operation of the write / select / compress / isolate context-operations model (wos/context-budget.md): compression that keeps provenance, rather than a plain lossy summary, is what makes the compaction safe to run mid-flight on a long session.
• If the model is uncertain whether a fact is still load-bearing, KEEP IT. Compaction is conservative; under-compacting is recoverable in a later run, over-compacting requires git restore.
• Do NOT compact when:
  • The task is one or two slices old (return NO_OP_TRACE with "task memory not large enough to benefit from compaction; resume cost is already low").
  • Artifacts disagree (return NO_OP_TRACE and route to state-reconcile).
  • The model cannot identify which facts are stale vs load-bearing (return NO_OP_TRACE with a request for the user to specify or to advance one more slice first).
• Set Work complexity based on the compaction depth: usually LOW (mechanical filter), MEDIUM if the task has 5+ slices and large fact accumulation, HIGH only if cross-cutting context that affects multiple slices needs careful preservation.

Required output:

1. Whether TASK_STATE.md should be compacted now and why (or NO_OP_TRACE reason if not)
2. Exact slimmed content for TASK_STATE.md (proposed under PROPOSED-by-default in Plan mode)
3. Exact ## Compaction history entry to append
4. Reduction metrics (lines before / after; categories dropped)
5. Audit list: what was dropped that the model believes is no longer load-bearing
6. Recommended next command (typically sync-task-state to flush other small updates, or resume-from-state if compaction is preparing for handoff)
7. What should explicitly NOT be done as a result of this compaction (do not change SLICES/, do not touch DECISIONS.md, do not modify INVARIANTS_AND_NON_GOALS.md)

Claim grounding (active epistemic humility)

Claim grounding (active epistemic humility). This block governs what you may assert and how you record it. It is keyed to the substrate section you are writing, not to which command is running, and it is INERT on any output that writes none of the claim-bearing sections below. Full contract and rationale: wos/active-epistemic-humility.md.

1. When this applies. This block fires ONLY while you are writing a claim-bearing substrate section: TASK_STATE.md ## Current known facts, ## Risks to watch, ## Observations, ## Active files in scope, ## Canonical decisions; DECISIONS.md ## Locked decisions; IMPLEMENTATION_PLAN.md ## Current gaps, ## Risks and mitigations; IMPACT_ANALYSIS.md; EXTERNAL_RESEARCH.md; REFERENCES.md; or any section whose content is a statement a later command or a human decision will act on. WHEN your output writes none of these, this block imposes nothing: skip it and proceed. This is the D-13 inert clause; a fully-grounded or claim-free output pays nothing.

2. The unit is the load-bearing claim. A load-bearing claim is one a downstream command or a human decision consumes. A passing aside is not load-bearing; a statement someone will act on is. Apply the rest of this block per load-bearing claim, not per sentence.

3. Ground it or abstain. Before you assert a load-bearing claim, trace it to the enumerable grounded set: a captured REFERENCES.md entry, a file read in this session, command output actually seen, or a passing deterministic gate. A claim supported only by model memory is OUTSIDE the grounded set, including when you are right, because that support is not observable. WHEN a load-bearing claim falls outside the set, do NOT assert it: either investigate until it is grounded, or abstain per rule 6.

4. Status records provenance, never confidence. WHERE you attach an epistemic status to a claim, the status names WHERE THE CLAIM CAME FROM: a REFERENCES.md entry title, a file path plus line, or the gate output it came from. It SHALL NOT express a degree of certainty. Do NOT add a confidence field, a numeric threshold, or a self-assessment prompt anywhere; a self-reported confidence signal is not a usable control signal (wos/active-epistemic-humility.md Part 1.3). A status whose referent slot is empty is read as UNKNOWN, not as a weak yes.

5. Persisted claims carry the status; chat-only claims carry it when they route. Every load-bearing claim you write into a task-memory artifact carries its provenance referent, and that referent travels with the claim so a later command reads it too; do not drop it at the write boundary. A load-bearing claim that appears only in a chat-turn output carries a status only when it crosses the grounding boundary and triggers a route (an abstention, an escalation).

6. Abstain as a routed continuation, never a bare refusal. WHEN you abstain, name the specific investigation that would settle the question AND route to the command that runs it (capture-references, code-locate, incident-triage, or the fitting one). A withholding that stalls the work is invalid output. Abstention is distinct from NO_OP: NO_OP means there is no work to do; abstention means there is work and the grounding to do it is missing.

7. An unfired gate is not evidence. The absence of a fired check does not mean grounding existed. Do not read silence here as a pass.

Standard output layout (required)

Produce the command output using this structure (English only):

Artifact changes

Follow ## Global output contract in WORKFLOW_OPERATING_SYSTEM.md for APPLIED / PROPOSED / SKIP rules.

Command transcript

Brief audit trail (max 4 lines; max 3 in no-op runs with NO_OP_TRACE).

Handoff

Use the adaptive ending format from WORKFLOW_OPERATING_SYSTEM.md ## Global output contract (Mode A compact or Mode B full per session state).

Definition of done (command output)

• The slimmed TASK_STATE.md preserves all "preserve verbatim" categories without paraphrase (canonical decisions, recommended next step, current phase, objective, invariants, source of truth, constraints).
• The ## Compaction history entry is appended with reduction metrics, dropped categories, resolved questions moved, mitigated risks moved, a 2-4 sentence summary, and a git SHA pointer for reversibility.
• ### Artifact changes marks TASK_STATE.md as APPLIED only when explicitly persisting in Agent mode; otherwise PROPOSED for Plan/Ask review.
• The dropped-fact audit list is explicit; over-eager drops can be challenged by the user and recovered via git.
• Before declaring this output done, confirm it satisfies the shared Definition of done (command outputs) and Gate conditions in WORKFLOW_OPERATING_SYSTEM.md.

Quality bar: Optimize for resumability after compaction, fidelity to canonical decisions, conservative filtering (when uncertain, KEEP), and clear audit trail of what was dropped so the user can reverse over-eager compaction via git.