Keel Compact

---
name: keel-compact
description: Pre-compact ritual — bring the disk fully up to date (runs the /keel-handover procedure, which cascades to /keel-distill, PLAN flips and the LESSONS sweep), verify freshness, then hand off to the built-in /compact. One command to remember instead of several.
---

# /keel-compact — refresh the disk, THEN compact

Compaction summarizes the conversation lossily; the pincer (PreCompact snapshot + SessionStart
re-ground) restores only what is ON DISK. This skill exists so a forgotten ritual can't turn a
manual compact into an information-loss event — the failure mode: `/compact` run with a stale
HANDOVER, and the snapshot faithfully backs up the stale file. Run it whenever you are about to
compact (or the context feels near-full). The individual skills stay directly invokable as
always — this is the umbrella, not a replacement.

1. **Run the full `/keel-handover` procedure** (rules.md §1.4) — it already cascades:
   `/keel-distill` when caps are hit, the session block (a)–(d), PLAN.md status flips + the
   regenerated diagram, TASKS.md cleanup, and the §9.31 sweep of unwritten agreements into
   `LESSONS.md`. Do not duplicate its steps here — invoke it.
2. **Freshness gate — RUN `python3 .claude/keel-compact-check.py` (ONE call; its `rc` is the
   verdict).** It measures the mechanical half of the list below and prints its own scope: size per
   always-loaded file (lines · KB · over-long lines — caps read from `.claude/keel-caps`), HANDOVER
   block count + top-block date + "written this session" + STALE-DISK debt, `## Now` per lane,
   `## Review` evidence files, ghost citations, and the push boundary. rc 0 pass · 1 RED (fix, re-run)
   · 2 the instrument failed (fall back to the list by hand). It refuses to fake the one
   non-mechanical item and PRINTS it instead — the §9.31 sweep is yours. Why a script: on a live
   5-agent project this checklist cost 17 / 25 / 59 tool turns per ritual at the fullest context of
   the session (~37M cache reads for one run). The list it replaces, for reference:
   - [ ] `HANDOVER.md` top block carries THIS session's `YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM` and describes THIS session
         (same-day ≠ same-session: another session's block from today is still stale — add your own).
   - [ ] `TASKS.md ## Now` matches reality; finished items deleted (one-liners in block (a)).
   - [ ] No agreement / gotcha / failed approach from this conversation is still unwritten (§9.31).
   - [ ] Caps respected (defaults — `.claude/keel-caps` overrides, rules §10.40): HANDOVER ≤ 3 blocks /
         ~150 · LESSONS ≤ ~250 · TASKS ≤ ~100 (else `/keel-distill`) — in LINES *and* KB, with no line
         over its per-line cap (a line cap alone once let HANDOVER reach 244 KB on 146 lines).
   - [ ] `PLAN.md` statuses + _Current focus_ current (if the project uses PLAN.md).
3. **Offer an approved commit + the batched push** (rules.md §1.3, §6.15) — this is the natural push
   boundary: commits accrued through the session go out here in ONE approval (the `ask` on push fires
   once, not per-commit — that's the point). git is the second safety net beside `.claude/snapshots/`:
   even a bad summary then loses nothing.
4. **Hand off:** tell the user — "Disk is fresh; now run `/compact`." A skill CANNOT invoke the
   built-in `/compact` itself; stop here and let the user trigger it.

Enforcement: this ritual is not just advice — the `compact-gate` PreCompact hook (matcher
`manual`) BLOCKS a stale manual `/compact` with exit 2 and points here, so forgetting it can't
silently cost a session (on older CLIs the block degrades to a warning). Emergency bypasses:
`/compact keel-force` · `touch .claude/compact-force` (one-shot).

Scope honesty: the gate covers MANUAL compacts only. Auto-compact is never blocked (a blocked
auto-compact could wedge a full session) — the defense there remains the hot-path discipline
(§9.31: write it the moment it appears) + the pincer. For full determinism you can disable
auto-compact in `/config` and compact only via this ritual (trade-off: forget too long and the
session hits the hard context limit mid-turn).