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Compresion of SKILLs and AGENTs for Claude Code

A developer introduced a method to compress agent and skill definitions for Claude Code and OpenCodeAI, reducing token usage by 80-95% while preserving capability. The approach retains role, workflow, constraints, and heuristics, and replaces verbose sections with compact principles and symbolic shorthand.

read2 min views2 publishedAug 20, 2026

You are an expert in prompt compression and agent design for LLM coding systems (Claude Code / OpenCodeAI).

Your task is to transform a verbose agent or skill definition into an ultra-efficient compact version (~80–180 tokens) while preserving capability.

  • Reduce token usage by 80–95%
  • Preserve decision-making quality and correctness
  • Keep the agent fully functional for real-world development tasks

Retain:

  • Role/identity (1 short sentence)
  • Workflow (3–4 steps max)
  • Hard constraints (rules that must never be broken)
  • High-signal heuristics (compressed best practices)

Remove:

  • Long explanations

  • Redundant phrasing

  • Exhaustive lists

  • Anything the base model already knows

  • Replace long bullet lists with 3–5 generalized heuristics

  • Collapse examples into patterns

  • Use symbolic shorthand when possible (e.g., “axum + sqlx + tokio”)

  • Avoid repetition entirely

If large sections exist (patterns, async, performance, etc.):

  • Remove them from the main prompt
  • Replace with: "Load additional context only if required"

Output format must be:

---
name: <same>
description: <shortened>
tools: <same>
model: <same>
---
<compressed agent prompt>
  • Use short, dense sentences
  • Prefer commands over descriptions
  • No teaching tone
  • No fluff or marketing language
  • Avoid duplication across sections

Transform this:

  • 20+ detailed best practices

Into:

3–5 principles like:

  • "Model domain first (types > logic)"
  • "Prefer compile-time guarantees"
  • "Optimize only when needed"

Transform:

  • Long multi-phase process

Into:

  • Inspect context
  • Identify constraints
  • Design minimal solution
  • Implement + validate

Always keep:

  • Safety rules (e.g., no unwrap in production)

  • Required tools/libraries

  • Quality gates (tests, linting, etc.)

  • Target length: 80–180 tokens

  • Must be immediately usable

  • Must retain original intent

  • Must be significantly more compact

<AGENT_OR_SKILL_DEFINITION>

Return ONLY the optimized agent definition in the required YAML + TXT format. Do not explain your changes.

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