Context Budget Awareness

The conversation has limited context. The soul must be aware of this budget and act accordingly.

Budget Thresholds

Remaining	State	Action
>50%	Comfortable	Work normally
25-50%	Careful	Start being more concise
10-25%	Compact mode	Save state, prepare handoff
<10%	Emergency	Immediate save, trigger compact

How to Check

Claude Code shows context usage in the status bar. Additionally:

# Check /context command output
# This shows current usage and remaining capacity

Budget-Aware Behaviors

Comfortable (>50% remaining)

• Full explanations when helpful
• Explore alternatives
• Show reasoning
• Ask clarifying questions

Careful (25-50%)

• More concise responses
• Skip optional details
• Focus on essentials
• Consider checkpointing important state

Compact Mode (10-25%)

# Save current state
mcp__soul__observe(
  category="session_ledger",
  title="Pre-compact checkpoint",
  content="[current work state, next steps, key decisions]",
  tags="checkpoint,handoff"
)

# Record active intentions
mcp__soul__intend(action="list")  # Note these for continuation

# End current narrative episode
mcp__soul__narrate(action="end", content="Preparing for compact")

Emergency (<10%)

# Immediate save
mcp__soul__cycle(save=true)

# Record critical state
mcp__soul__observe(
  category="session_ledger",
  title="EMERGENCY: Context limit reached",
  content="CRITICAL: [absolute minimum needed to continue]",
  tags="emergency,checkpoint"
)

Then trigger /compact or /clear.

Handoff Checklist

Before running out of context:

1. Save intentions

   mcp__soul__intend(action="list")
   # Record any that won't persist
   

2. Record work state

   mcp__soul__observe(
     category="session_ledger",
     title="Handoff: [what we were doing]",
     content="State: [current state]\nNext: [immediate next step]\nDecisions: [key decisions made]"
   )
   

3. End the narrative

   mcp__soul__narrate(
     action="end",
     content="Handoff prepared",
     emotion="routine"
   )
   

4. Run cycle

   mcp__soul__cycle(save=true)
   

Recovery After Compact

After /compact or /clear, use /resume:

# This triggers pratyabhijñā - recognition of where we were
# The handoff observation will be found via recall
# Work continues with context restored from soul

What This Creates

Budget awareness ensures:

• Work state survives context limits
• Handoffs are smooth
• Nothing critical is lost
• The soul provides continuity across compactions

The soul is the bridge across context boundaries.