gz-context-diet

name	gz-context-diet
persona	main-session
description	Trim per-turn agent context weight by lifting pedagogical narrative from AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, and .claude/rules/** to docs/governance/, leaving binding bullets and one-line pointers behind. Use when the per-turn contract surface has accreted multi-paragraph rationale and "Why this is canon" codas, when an operator asks for a "diet" or "progressive disclosure" pass on the agent contract, or when the advisory scorecard surfaces Judgment-class duplicates that can be folded into Mechanical neighbors. Thin trigger-discovery wrapper for the `instructions-files-diet` chore — the chore's `CHORE.md` carries the procedure.
category	code-quality
lifecycle_state	active
owner	gzkit-governance
last_reviewed	"2026-07-25T00:00:00.000Z"
gz_command	chores show instructions-files-diet
metadata	{"skill-version":"1.1.1"}
model	sonnet

gz-context-diet

Purpose

Trigger-discovery wrapper for the instructions-files-diet chore. The chore is the source of truth for the procedure, acceptance criteria, and common rationalizations; this skill exists so the skill catalogue pattern-matches on operator language ("diet," "progressive disclosure," "trim contract weight") that the generic gz-chore-runner description does not surface.

This is not a substitute for reading the chore. The agent must read CHORE.md before acting; the skill body below only routes there.

Trigger

• Binding (operator standing rule, 2026-05-29): any budget-lift or prose-trim edit to AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, or .claude/rules/** — including lifting a bullet's rationale to docs/governance/ to make char-budget room for a new rule — routes through this skill, never a direct Edit/Write to those files. Hand-editing instructions-file prose to manage budget or shape is the bypass this skill exists to prevent.
• Operator asks for a "diet," "trim," or "progressive disclosure" pass on the agent contract or memory files
• uv run gz validate --instructions-files-budget reports the surface-delivery witness closing on a vendor cap (the advisory prints remaining headroom in bytes); low headroom is the signal, not line count
• The advisory scorecard (uv run gz validate --advisory-scorecard) surfaces Judgment-class bullets that duplicate Mechanical neighbors

Procedure

Read the chore, then follow it:

uv run gz chores show instructions-files-diet

The Workflow, Acceptance Criteria, Anti-patterns, and Related sections in that CHORE.md are the binding procedure. After reading, run the chore through the standard chore lifecycle (the same five steps gz-chore-runner enforces):

uv run gz chores plan instructions-files-diet
uv run gz chores advise instructions-files-diet
# ... apply edits per CHORE.md § Workflow ...
uv run gz chores run instructions-files-diet
uv run gz chores audit --slug instructions-files-diet

Constraints (load-bearing reminders)

These three constraints justify a dedicated skill over generic gz-chore-runner discovery — they are the points an agent must hold in the per-turn surface even before reading CHORE.md:

1. Narrative trim, never invariant relaxation. "Lighter ceremony is not a tradeoff axis" — AGENTS.md § MAKE LLM STOCHASTIC VIBES INERT operative claim 1. Every Mechanical / Promotable bullet on the advisory scorecard remains in the per-turn contract.
2. Edit canonical, let sync propagate. .claude/rules/** is generated from .gzkit/rules/**. Direct mirror edits get overwritten on the next gz agent sync control-surfaces.
3. Foundation-kind content rigor regardless of lane label. The chore is lite-lane for execution overhead; the content (the agent contract) is foundation-kind invariant surface. ARB receipts and bullet-retention audit are required even though the lane is lite.

Related

• Chore: src/gzkit/chores/instructions-files-diet/CHORE.md (canonical), .gzkit/chores/instructions-files-diet/CHORE.md (project overlay)
• gz-chore-runner — generic chore-execution skill; this skill is the trigger-discoverable specialization
• gz-agent-sync, gz-arb, gz-validate — wielded inside the chore workflow
• docs/governance/agent-contract-rationale.md — the standing lift target and precedent (six sections already lifted there)
• docs/governance/advisory-rules-audit.md — scorecard catalogue
• GHI #327 — origin