Claude Code

Make Your Claude Helpers Summarize Themselves Sooner

How one line in a helper's settings makes that helper compact its own work earlier, the exact number format that works, and the three cases where it does nothing

Alex ChenAlex Chen@nocodealex · 45,000+ follow on Instagram
2min read
1prompts to copy
5numbered steps
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A helper agent (subagent) keeps its whole pile of work in its own chat until the window is nearly full. Since v2.1.296 you can tell one helper to summarize itself earlier, with a single line in its settings.

Step 1: update and open the helper

  1. Run claude --version. You need v2.1.296 or later.
  2. Open the helper's file in .claude/agents/ (or ~/.claude/agents/). The settings sit between the two --- lines at the top.

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