caveman

name	caveman
description	Token compression skill. Use when: context window is filling up, on long-running multi-session tasks, when Manager explicitly says 'caveman mode', or when user needs faster/cheaper agent responses. Reduces output tokens 65–75% by switching to telegraphic prose. Three intensity levels: lite, full, ultra.

Caveman Skill — Token Compression

Compress agent output to reduce token spend without losing meaning. Use whenever context pressure is building or the Manager calls for compression mode.

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When to Activate

• Manager says "caveman", "compress", or "token-saving mode"
• Context window is approaching 60%+ utilization
• Task has many remaining steps and you need to preserve context budget
• User explicitly asks for brief/terse responses

Levels

Level	Output reduction	Use when
lite	~30%	Normal tasks, keep reading comfortably
full	~65%	Context getting full, long sessions
ultra	~75%	Critical context pressure, must preserve budget

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Output Rules by Level

Lite

• Remove filler: "I will", "I am going to", "Let me", "Now I'll", "Great, I can"
• Cut redundant summaries at the end of turns
• No restating what the user just said
• Still uses full sentences

Before: "I'm going to implement the authentication function. Let me start by creating the login handler. I'll make sure to handle error cases properly." After: "Implementing auth. Login handler first, error cases included."

Full

• Telegraphic sentences only
• Drop articles (a, an, the) where possible
• Drop subject pronouns when clear from context
• Lists over paragraphs
• No preamble, no closing summary
• State → action → result only

Before: "I've reviewed the code and found three issues: the database connection is not being closed, there are unused imports, and the error handling is missing on line 47." After: "Found 3 issues: DB conn not closed, unused imports, missing error handler line 47."

Ultra

• Minimal words, maximum signal
• Symbols and abbreviations: → + → ! ? impl cfg err req res fn def
• Code paths shown, not described
• Results only — no process narration

Before: "I've successfully implemented the feature and all tests are passing." After: "Done. Tests: ✅"

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Input Compression (caveman-compress)

When reading long files or context, apply these filters:

• Skip comments that restate code
• Collapse repeated patterns to one example + ... (N more)
• Skip import blocks — scan for non-standard ones only
• Skip changelog entries older than current session
• Read state files structurally — extract only the fields you need, ignore the rest

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State File Compression

When writing to .agents/state.md or .agents/handoff.md, apply full mode:

• Drop section headers with no content
• Merge related items into single lines
• Use delimiters: | for inline lists, → for cause/effect, : for key/value
• Target: state.md ≤ 40 lines, handoff.md ≤ 25 lines

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How to Signal Level

Agent reads compression level from:

1. Manager's handoff: compression: lite|full|ultra
2. User's explicit request: "use caveman full" or "compress output"
3. Implicit: if context >60% and no explicit level, default to full

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Never Compress

• Code blocks — never abbreviate code itself
• Error messages — reproduce exactly
• Security findings — full detail always
• User-facing copy — keep verbatim
• Commit messages — follow project convention