guide

Topics in the source

• ctx-guard
• When a [ctx-guard] note arrives
• When a prompt says the user is away
• When the token is refused
• When a tool is blocked
• When a brake lifts
• When you are a subagent and get a budget note
• After /clear

ctx-guard watches the session's context fill and usage limits. It sends [ctx-guard] notes, blocks tools near limits, and, at a ready token, runs a guarded /clear plus resume (or /compact). This skill tells you how to answer its notes and how to help the operator configure it. Every key and default is in references/config-reference.md. The note states the figure, what to do now (by level), and how to end. Follow it in this order. 1. Finish the current step, as the note's level says: soft: finish the item in hand and keep new work small (for usage: fewer subagents, no speculative work); hard: start no new item, dispatch only what the current item needs, and bring it to a safe point; stop: dispatch nothing new and start no new work. 2. Reach a safe point. No subagents or background tasks running: wait for them or collect their results. Current work recorded: commit it, or write it down in the handoff. 3. Write the handoff, if the note asks for one. The note names the file (write the handoff to ) and quotes the role's instructions; follow them. The instructions name a skill: use it, and make sure the result ends up at that path. They name none: rewrite the whole file with the Write too

This is an excerpt. Refer to the complete source and its current requirements.