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Paul O'Reilly a4967df815 Initial commit: Claude Code foundations and improvements research

Conventions, community best practices research (Sept 2025 - March 2026),
and prioritized improvement backlog for Claude Code workflows.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

2026-03-12 23:02:54 +13:00

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Session & Context Management

Why This Matters

Context is the most precious resource in a Claude Code session. The 200k token window seems large but fills fast — especially with MCP tools, long files, and multi-step tasks. Community consensus: managing context deliberately is a 2-3x productivity multiplier.

Current State

No explicit context management practices documented
Auto-memory system is configured (built-in)
No compaction hooks

Key Practices

Session Hygiene

Use /clear between unrelated tasks. A fresh session costs ~20k tokens (10% of budget), leaving ~180k for work. Polluted context from failed approaches actively degrades output quality.
After two failed corrections, /clear and start fresh. Context is now polluted with failed approaches. Write a better initial prompt instead.
One task per session. The "kitchen sink session" (start task A, ask about B, return to A) is a documented anti-pattern.

Context Budgeting

Use /context to audit token usage. MCP tools consume context even when unused. Browser automation tools alone can eat 8-30% of available context.
Remove unused MCP servers from settings when not actively needed.
Compact proactively at 60-70% usage — don't wait for auto-compact.

Extended Thinking

Only ultrathink activates extended thinking as of Claude Code v2.0.0. Previous keywords like "think" or "think hard" no longer work.
Use ultrathink for complex reasoning tasks, architectural decisions, and debugging subtle issues.

Compaction Strategy

Default reserves 32k tokens (22.5% of 200k) for auto-compact buffer.
Setting CLAUDE_CODE_MAX_OUTPUT_TOKENS to 64k increases the buffer to ~40%.
PreCompact hook (see hooks-and-automation.md) saves transcript before compaction.
Pair with auto-memory: gradual learning via memory, emergency snapshots via PreCompact hooks.

Handoff Between Sessions

Before ending a long session, create a handoff document: goals, progress, blockers, next steps.
A /handoff or /catchup skill (see skills-and-progressive-disclosure.md) automates this.
"Context is like milk — keep it fresh and condensed."

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