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Caveman Compress

Compresses natural-language memory files (CLAUDE.md, todos, preferences) into terse caveman-speak to cut input tokens.

UtilitiesIntermediate★ 133⑂ 16AI score 8/10Last updated: Apr 20, 2026

What it does

  • Strips articles, filler words, pleasantries and hedging ("just", "basically", "make sure to") from natural-language markdown files such as CLAUDE.md, todo lists and preference notes.
  • Preserves exactly: fenced/indented code blocks, inline backtick code, URLs, file paths, shell commands, versions, dates, environment variables.
  • Preserves structure: headings, bullet nesting, numbered lists, tables, YAML frontmatter.
  • Overwrites the original with the compressed version and keeps a human-readable backup at FILE.original.md.
  • A bundled Python CLI (python3 -m scripts <absolute_path>) detects file type, compresses, validates, and cherry-picks fixes with up to 2 retries before bailing out untouched.

Who it's for

  • Anyone whose CLAUDE.md has grown long and eats context every session.
  • Developers accumulating long-lived project rules and notes.
  • Heavy users looking for real token/cost savings.

Examples

  1. /caveman:compress ~/project/CLAUDE.md → a 300-line rules doc shrinks roughly in half, original kept as CLAUDE.md.original.md.
  2. "compress this todo file" → verbose sentences become "Run tests before push to main. Catch bugs early."
  3. An architecture doc mixing prose and code → only the prose paragraphs shrink; code blocks and commands stay byte-identical.

· · · Install guide · · ·

Try it now, no install

Paste this into Claude to use the skill without installing anything.

Read the instructions in this file and follow them to help me:
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jjmartres/opencode/HEAD/opencode/skills/caveman-compress/SKILL.md

What I want: (describe your task here)

If Claude can't open the link, open it yourself and paste the contents instead.

↓ If it works for you, download the ZIP below and install it. Then it runs on its own — no pasting each time.

Install in the Claude app (no terminal)
  1. Download the ZIP with the button below.
  2. In Claude, open Settings → Capabilities and turn on 'Code execution and file creation'. (one time)
  3. Go to Customize → Skills → + → 'Upload a skill' and upload the ZIP.
↓ Download ZIP
Install in Claude Code

Let Claude do it — paste this into Claude Code

Install the skill I found on Claude Skill Mart.
Copy the opencode/skills/caveman-compress folder from the GitHub repo jjmartres/opencode into my ~/.claude/skills/caveman-compress/.
When it's done, tell me in one line what this skill can do.

Install with a command instead

git clone https://github.com/jjmartres/opencode.git /tmp/opencode && mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && cp -r /tmp/opencode/opencode/skills/caveman-compress ~/.claude/skills/

⚠ This is a third-party skill. Check the source repository before installing.

  1. Open a terminal.
  2. Clone the repo: git clone https://github.com/jjmartres/opencode.git /tmp/opencode
  3. Create the skills directory: mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills
  4. Copy the whole skill folder (including scripts/): cp -r /tmp/opencode/opencode/skills/caveman-compress ~/.claude/skills/
  5. Verify Python 3 is available: python3 --version
  6. Restart Claude Code, then run /caveman:compress <absolute file path> or ask it to "compress memory file".
  7. After the first run, confirm the <file>.original.md backup exists — the skill overwrites the original in place.
View source on GitHub ↗License: MIT