draft-compact

name	draft-compact
description	Curator-triggered context compaction. Synthesizes accumulated appends in one or more context/*/index.md files into a clean, lean current-state document. Archives the pre-compact state to log/ before overwriting. Run when any index.md reads like a change log rather than a current-state document, or exceeds ~500 words.

/draft:compact — Compact Context Dimensions

Fold accumulated appends into a clean, lean current-state index.md. Prevents token bloat in session injection.

When to run: When any context/*/index.md reads more like a change log than a current-state document, or when its word count is climbing past ~500 words.

What it does: Reads the current index.md + all log/ entries for a dimension → synthesizes a clean current-state document → archives the old version to log/ → overwrites. Direct write — no proposals/ step needed since this is an explicit, intentional curator action.

---

Step 1: Scan — measure all dimensions

Read all context/*/index.md files in $DRAFT_WORKSPACE/context/. For each, get the word count:

wc -w "$DRAFT_WORKSPACE/context/"*/index.md 2>/dev/null

Build an internal list of dimensions with their word counts and a flag for those above ~500 words.

---

Step 2: Select which dimension(s) to compact

Case A — called with a specific dimension (e.g. /draft:compact product): Skip the question. Proceed directly to Step 3 for that dimension only.

Case B — called with no args (just /draft:compact): Always ask — never auto-select. Use AskUserQuestion to surface the scan results and prompt the user to choose:

Format the question like this — list all dimensions with their word counts, flag the ones above threshold, and offer "all" as an explicit option:

Which context dimension would you like to compact?

  product      (847 words)  ⚠️ recommended
  priorities   (312 words)
  company      (198 words)
  team          (95 words)

Reply with a dimension name, multiple names separated by spaces, or "all" to compact every dimension above 500 words.

Wait for the user's reply before proceeding.

If the user replies with a dimension name that doesn't exist in context/, tell them and re-prompt once.

---

Step 3: Compact each selected dimension

Run this full sequence for each selected dimension, one at a time:

3a. Gather source material

Read $DRAFT_WORKSPACE/context/<dim>/index.md directly in full.

For log/ files, use a scoped approach:

1. List all files in $DRAFT_WORKSPACE/context/<dim>/log/ — filenames alone are informative (format: YYYYMMDDHHMMSS_<slug>.md). Note total count and the full filename list.
2. Filter to files with a timestamp from the past 7 days (compare the 8-digit YYYYMMDD prefix against today minus 7 days). These are the files whose full content will be read.
3. Delegate reading of the filtered files to a subagent to protect the main context window:
   • Prefer draft-researcher subagent if available.
   • Otherwise, use a general research/explore subagent.
   • Instruct the subagent: read each selected log file and return a structured summary (date, change type, key facts captured).
4. Note the scope: total log files listed vs. files read in full (e.g. "23 total, 4 read — last 7 days").

If no log files fall within the 7-day window, synthesize from index.md alone.

Record the current word count of index.md before touching anything.

3b. Synthesize a clean current-state document

Using the current index.md content and all log/ files as inputs, produce a clean replacement document.

The compacted index.md must:

• Reflect only the current state — what is true NOW, not a record of what changed when
• Preserve all currently-valid information (log/ entries win over older index content when they contradict)
• Discard information that has been superseded by newer log entries
• Use the same YAML frontmatter format as the original:

  ---
  name: <dim>
  description: >
    [2–10 sentence summary of current state — updated to reflect compacted content]
  last_updated: <today's date YYYY-MM-DD>
  source: curator compaction | <original source>
  ---
  

• Have a clean body with no dated entries, no "as of [date]" accumulation, no "UPDATE:" or "APPEND:" prefixes — just current facts, clearly organized
• Be lean: aim to cut 40–60% of word count by removing redundancy and historical change notation

The compacted body should read like: "Here is what is true about [dimension] right now." Not "Here is everything that has happened over time."

3c. Show preview and require approval

Display the full compacted content with a before/after summary:

Compaction preview — context/<dim>/index.md
────────────────────────────────────────────
Before: [N] words
After:  [N] words

[full compacted content here]

────────────────────────────────────────────
Apply? [Y/n]

If n: skip this dimension — no changes made. Move to the next selected dimension if any remain.

3d. Apply (on Y)

Execute in this exact order — do not skip any step:

1. Archive the pre-compact state before touching the file:

ARCHIVE_TS=$(date -u +%Y%m%d%H%M%S)
cp "$DRAFT_WORKSPACE/context/<dim>/index.md" \
   "$DRAFT_WORKSPACE/context/<dim>/log/${ARCHIVE_TS}_pre-compact-archive.md"

2. Write the compacted version — use the Write tool to overwrite context/<dim>/index.md with the synthesized content.

3. Write a compaction log entry — create $DRAFT_WORKSPACE/context/<dim>/log/${ARCHIVE_TS}_compaction.md:

---
date: <today's date YYYY-MM-DD>
type: compaction
curator: <gh username if available via `gh api user --jq .login`, else "curator">
before_words: <N>
after_words: <N>
log_entries_folded: <count of log/ files read, excluding the archive and this entry>
---

Compaction run by curator on <date>.
Pre-compact state archived to log/<ARCHIVE_TS>_pre-compact-archive.md.
<N> log entries folded into current-state index.md.

---

Step 4: Confirm

Report for each compacted dimension:

✓ context/product/index.md   847 → 214 words (-75%)
  Archived: context/product/log/20260522123045_pre-compact-archive.md
  Log entry written.

If any dimensions were skipped (user said n): list them with "skipped — no changes made."

Then remind:

"Run /draft:publish-team to push the compacted context to your team."

---

Rules

• Never compact without curator selection. Always ask which dimension to compact — never auto-select or default to all.
• Never compact without curator review. Always show the full preview and require Y before writing.
• Always archive before overwriting. The pre-compact state must be recoverable via log/. No exceptions.
• Always write a log entry. Compaction without a log entry is invisible to CHANGES.jsonl and future surfaces.
• Discard only what's superseded. Compaction is synthesis, not deletion — if older content is still accurate, keep it.
• Do not compact tensions.md. Tensions are resolved manually by the curator, not synthesized away.
• Prefer lean over comprehensive. When in doubt, cut. The log/ archive preserves full history.
• Read log/ directory in full, content scoped to 7 days. Always list all log/ files — filenames are descriptive and inform the synthesis. Only read full content for files timestamped within the past 7 days. Use a subagent to read them.
• This is a direct write. Compact writes directly to index.md — it does not produce a proposals/ file. This is intentional: compact is an explicit curator action, not automated synthesis. The daemon's overwrite guard (commit-to-team-context.sh) applies only to synthesis proposals, not to this skill.