---
name: kunanonj/cursor-plugin-pstack-principle-guard-the-context-window
source: https://app.decimal.ai/s/kunanonj-cursor-plugin-pstack-principle-guard-the-context-window@1/SKILL.md
source_sha256: e12b796aa622
---

# Guard the Context Window

The context window is finite and non-renewable within a session. Every token that enters should earn its place.

**Why:** Context overflow degrades reasoning quality, creates compression artifacts, and halts progress. Unlike compute or time, context spent inside a session cannot be reclaimed.

**Pattern:**
- **Isolate large payloads.** Route verbose outputs, screenshots, and large documents to subagents. The main context gets summaries, not raw data.
- **Don't read what you won't use.** Read selectively based on relevance. If a file isn't needed for the current task, skip it.
- **Keep frequently used content inline.** Templates and references used on every invocation belong in the skill file, not in separate files that cost a read each time.
- **Size phases and cap scope.** Limit files per phase, set turn budgets, account for mechanism costs.