New Skill: context-efficiency - Compounding error awareness & compaction #5
Description
Summary
Skill for understanding context window management, compounding errors, and intentional compaction strategies.
Problem
- Teams don't understand compounding error math
- Context bloat from warnings, verbose output
- No guidance on when NOT to use agents
- Missing compaction strategy between phases
Proposed Skill
Name: context-efficiency
Plugin: claude-workflow
Triggers: "context bloat", "compaction", "context window", "too many steps", "agent accuracy"
Core Content
Two Levers (Only Two!)
- Fewer steps - reduce context, less compounding error
- More accurate step selection - better tool calling
Everything else is noise.
Compounding Error Math
| Accuracy | 10 Steps | 20 Steps | 50 Steps |
|---|---|---|---|
| 99% | 90% | 82% | 60% |
| 98% | 82% | 67% | 36% |
| 95% | 60% | 36% | 8% |
When NOT to Use Agents
If you know the workflow order, don't use an agent.
Control flow via code, not prompts. Agents for undefined state transitions only.
Compaction Strategy
[Phase output] → compact → [Next phase input]
Frequent intentional compaction > one massive context window.
Context Bloat Sources
- Build warnings (enforce zero-warning)
- Verbose tool output
- Accumulated conversation history
- Large file reads
References
- [rework/01-core-concepts.md] - compounding math
- [rework/02-structured-workflows.md] - compaction points