Apply when context is filling up: large outputs, long files, repeated reads, fan-out planning. Route bulk to subagents; keep summaries in the main thread, not raw payloads.
Collected from public GitHub. Every version is saved exactly as it was and never changes. Install it at an exact version with the mdr tool, and every file is checked before it reaches your agent. The main file is checked against the SHA-256 fingerprint recorded here, and the others against the fingerprints GitHub keeps for its source commit. The automatic checks below grade the latest version, and the same checks always give the same file the same grade.
What the file says
# Guard the Context Window
The context window is finite and non-renewable within a session. Every token should be worth its cost.
**Why:** Context overflow degrades reasoning quality, creates compression artifacts, and halts progress.
**Pattern:**
- **Isolate large payloads.** Route verbose outputs, screenshots, and large documents to subagents. The main context gets summaries, not raw data.
- **Keep frequently used content inline.** Templates and references used on every invocation belong in the skill file, not in separate files that cost a read each time.
- **Size phases and cap scope.** Limit files per phase, set turn budgets, account for mechanism costs.
The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20261005.32edae5, which is what most people want. This one pins the sha256 fingerprint of the contents instead, so it survives a label being moved. Either way the exact version is written to mdr.lock, and mdr install downloads and checks those contents again, so it installs them exactly or stops with an error.
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_fojxtzs6ettuzhjb
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=barbieri/local-openfinance/principle-guard-the-context-window
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/d2cef147862576e3d709b7afc149d85196245e8338b9c7eef337c95fba412b3e
Your AI assistant does the legwork. You hear about the deals worth your word. Hand yours the standing instructions at modelranch.com and it joins the network that reads files like this one.
barbieri/local-openfinance · .agents/skills/agent-browser/SKILL.md · Browser automation CLI for AI agents. Use when the user needs to interact with websites, including navigating pages…
barbieri/local-openfinance · .agents/skills/ai-sdk/SKILL.md · Answer questions about the AI SDK and help build AI-powered features. Use when developers: (1) Ask about AI SDK…
barbieri/local-openfinance · .agents/skills/architect/SKILL.md · Sketch types, signatures, and module structure before code, then stay in the loop while implementation fills in. Use…
barbieri/local-openfinance · .agents/skills/arena/SKILL.md · Spawn N parallel candidates at the same task, pick a base, graft the strongest parts of the losers into it. Use for…
barbieri/local-openfinance · .agents/skills/automate-me/SKILL.md · Use for "automate me", "create/update/refresh my -mode skill", "turn/capture my preferences or working style into a…
barbieri/local-openfinance · .agents/skills/blast-radius/SKILL.md · Find what a change could break somewhere else before it ships, beyond the diff, and prove the one fact it's safe…
barbieri/local-openfinance · .agents/skills/cancel-ralph/SKILL.md · Cancel an active Ralph Loop. Use when the user wants to stop, cancel, or abort a running ralph loop.
barbieri/local-openfinance · .agents/skills/cli-for-agents/SKILL.md · Designs or reviews CLIs so coding agents can run them reliably: non-interactive flags, layered --help with examples…
barbieri/local-openfinance · .agents/skills/code-review/SKILL.md · Review the changes since a fixed point (commit, branch, tag, or merge-base) along two axes: Standards (does the code…
cursor/plugins · pstack/skills/principle-guard-the-context-window/SKILL.md · Apply when context is filling up: large outputs, long files, repeated reads, fan-out planning. Route bulk to subagents…
cursor/plugins · harness/pstack/claude-code/skills/principle-guard-the-context-window/SKILL.md · Apply when context is filling up: large outputs, long files, repeated reads, fan-out planning. Route bulk to subagents…
nightly-labs/openbot · marketplace/production-catalog/bundles/pstack/skills/principle-guard-the-context-window/SKILL.md · Apply when context is filling up: large outputs, long files, repeated reads, fan-out planning. Route bulk to subagents…
michael-denyer/pstack-claude · plugins/pstack/skills/principle-guard-the-context-window/SKILL.md · Apply when context is filling up: large outputs, long files, repeated reads, fan-out planning. Route bulk to subagents…
backnotprop/pstack · skills/principle-guard-the-context-window/SKILL.md · Apply when context is filling up: large outputs, long files, repeated reads, fan-out planning. Route bulk to subagents…
iap/pstack-hermes · skills/principle-guard-the-context-window/SKILL.md · Apply when context is filling up: large outputs, long files, repeated reads, fan-out planning. Route bulk to subagents…
j-star-films-studios/vibecode-protocol-suite · assets/.agent/skills/engineering-principles/guard-the-context-window/SKILL.md · Apply when context is filling up: large outputs, long files, repeated reads, fan-out planning. Route bulk to subagents…
theonlyfusioncube/potetos-for-everyone · skills/principle-guard-the-context-window/SKILL.md · Route bulk exploration to isolated workers or files and bring back compact evidence summaries, not raw floods. Use when…
