AI Skill MartBrowse skillsPromptsProgramsLearnWhat is a Skill?
 
← Back to list

Context Engineering

A strategy guide for managing Claude Code context and token budgets through four operations: Write, Select, Compress, Isolate.

UtilitiesIntermediate★ 2,936⑂ 300AI score 8/10Last updated: Sep 29, 2026

What it does

Gives you a systematic model for controlling how context flows through an AI coding session:

  • Write — persist state to CLAUDE.md, NOTES.md, or .claude/memory/ so it survives compaction and session resets.
  • Select — retrieve with precision: @file → grep/Glob → partial reads. "Focused 300 tokens beat unfocused 113K tokens."
  • Compress — /compact focus:, inline microcompaction, head+tail reads, and a PostCompact hook that re-injects critical rules.
  • Isolate — split heavy work into subagents, worktrees (claude -w), /btw overlays, or fresh sessions.

It also includes a phase-by-phase token budget table (planning, implementation, testing, review), a decision table for /clear vs /compact vs subagent, and a list of common anti-patterns.

Who it's for

  • Anyone whose long sessions degrade, loop, or forget earlier decisions
  • Teams trying to cut token cost and latency
  • Developers working in large codebases with heavy search/read work
  • Users who haven't yet made real use of subagents or worktrees

Example uses

  1. Before a large refactor: write goals and constraints to NOTES.md, /compact focus: auth module changes once context passes 50%, then re-read NOTES.md to restore full state.
  2. Bug hunting: instead of reading a whole module, chain Glob → Grep → Read with offset/limit to pull exactly one function and save tokens.
  3. Parallel work: keep the main session for coordination and commits while subagents run the test suite and generate a migration script.

· · · 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/rohitg00/pro-workflow/HEAD/skills/context-engineering/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 AI Skill Mart.
Copy the skills/context-engineering folder from the GitHub repo rohitg00/pro-workflow into my ~/.claude/skills/rohitg00-context-engineering/.
When it's done, tell me in one line what this skill can do.

Install with a command instead

git clone https://github.com/rohitg00/pro-workflow.git /tmp/pro-workflow && mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && cp -r /tmp/pro-workflow/skills/context-engineering ~/.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/rohitg00/pro-workflow.git
  3. Create the skills directory: mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills
  4. Copy the skill: cp -r pro-workflow/skills/context-engineering ~/.claude/skills/
  5. Verify that ~/.claude/skills/context-engineering/SKILL.md exists.
  6. Restart Claude Code, run /context to see your current usage, then try: "Apply context engineering and clean up this session."
  7. (Optional) Paste the ## Context Engineering block from the end of the doc into your project CLAUDE.md so the rules always apply.
View source on GitHub ↗