artifact-type-tailored-context

Artifact-Type-Tailored Context Skill

Purpose

Compress individual artifacts within a specified token budget using tiered summarization strategies. This skill operates in isolated forked context to prevent polluting the parent agent's context with large raw artifacts.

Task Context

You are responsible for compressing a single artifact file to fit within a token budget. Your responsibilities:

1. Read the raw artifact from the specified path
2. Count its tokens using the count_tokens.py script
3. Apply appropriate tiered summarization strategy
4. Return structured JSON with metadata

Success criteria:

• Compressed content fits within token budget (or is properly truncated)
• Valid JSON response with all required fields
• Metadata accurately reflects truncation status

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Input Parameters

You receive three required parameters:

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Execution Workflow

Step 1: Read Artifact

Read the artifact from its absolute path:

# Construct full path
ARTIFACT_FULL_PATH="$CLOSEDLOOP_WORKDIR/$artifact_path"

Use the Read tool to load the artifact content. If the file does not exist, skip to error handling.

Step 2: Count Raw Tokens

Invoke the count_tokens.py script to get accurate token count:

cd "$CLOSEDLOOP_WORKDIR" && uv run count_tokens.py "$artifact_path"

Expected output format:

{
  "input_tokens": 1234
}

Parse the JSON output and extract input_tokens as raw_tokens.

Error handling:

• If count_tokens.py fails (exit code non-zero), fallback to character-based heuristic: raw_tokens = len(content) / 4
• Add warning to content preamble: [WARNING: Token count estimated via heuristic due to count_tokens.py failure]\n\n

Step 3: Apply Tiered Summarization Strategy

Choose strategy based on raw token count relative to budget:

Tier 1: Full Content (raw_tokens <= budget)

Condition: raw_tokens <= token_budget

Action: Return artifact unchanged

Metadata:

• compacted_tokens = raw_tokens
• truncated = false

No further processing needed.

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Tier 2: Intelligent Compression (budget < raw_tokens <= budget * 1.5)

Condition: token_budget < raw_tokens <= token_budget * 1.5

Action: Apply artifact-type-specific compression preserving structure

Compression strategies by artifact type:

Validation:

After compression, count tokens again:

cd "$CLOSEDLOOP_WORKDIR" && uv run count_tokens.py <(echo "$compressed_content")

Decision tree:

• If compacted_tokens <= token_budget: Success → Return with truncated = false
• If compacted_tokens > token_budget: Compression failed → Fallback to Tier 3

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Tier 3: Hard Truncation (raw_tokens > budget * 1.5 OR Tier 2 failed)

Condition: raw_tokens > token_budget * 1.5 OR compression in Tier 2 exceeded budget

Action: Hard truncate at character boundary

Algorithm:

1. Estimate truncation point: char_limit = token_budget * 4 (heuristic: 4 chars per token)
2. Find last paragraph boundary (double newline \n\n) before char_limit
3. Truncate at that boundary
4. Calculate truncated token count: truncated_tokens = raw_tokens - token_budget
5. Append truncation marker:

[TRUNCATED: content exceeds budget, remaining {truncated_tokens} tokens omitted]

Metadata:

• compacted_tokens = token_budget (approximate)
• truncated = true

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Step 4: Return JSON Response

Return structured JSON with strict schema:

{
  "artifact_name": "path/to/artifact.ext",
  "raw_tokens": 5000,
  "compacted_tokens": 2000,
  "truncated": false,
  "content": "compressed artifact content here..."
}

Field descriptions:

---

Error Handling

Artifact Not Found

Condition: artifact_path does not exist at $CLOSEDLOOP_WORKDIR/<artifact_path>

Response:

{
  "artifact_name": "path/to/missing.ext",
  "raw_tokens": 0,
  "compacted_tokens": 0,
  "truncated": true,
  "content": "[ERROR: artifact not found at $CLOSEDLOOP_WORKDIR/path/to/missing.ext]"
}

count_tokens.py Failure

Condition: Script exits with non-zero code or returns invalid JSON

Action:

1. Fallback to character-based heuristic: raw_tokens = len(content) / 4
2. Prepend warning to content:

[WARNING: Token count estimated via heuristic due to count_tokens.py failure]

<original content follows>

3. Proceed with tiered strategy using estimated token count
4. Set truncated = false unless Tier 3 is applied

Invalid Compression Output

Condition: Tier 2 compression produces malformed content (e.g., invalid JSON syntax for JSON artifacts)

Action: Immediately fallback to Tier 3 hard truncation with truncated = true

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Example Scenarios

Example 1: Small Artifact (Tier 1)

Input:

• artifact_path: plan.json
• token_budget: 5000
• Raw tokens: 3200

Output:

{
  "artifact_name": "plan.json",
  "raw_tokens": 3200,
  "compacted_tokens": 3200,
  "truncated": false,
  "content": "<full plan.json content>"
}

---

Example 2: Medium Artifact (Tier 2)

Input:

• artifact_path: git_diff
• token_budget: 10000
• Raw tokens: 12000 (1.2x budget)

Compression applied: Remove comments, summarize method bodies, keep signatures

Output:

{
  "artifact_name": "git_diff",
  "raw_tokens": 12000,
  "compacted_tokens": 9500,
  "truncated": false,
  "content": "<compressed diff with function signatures preserved>"
}

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Example 3: Large Artifact (Tier 3)

Input:

• artifact_path: outcomes.log
• token_budget: 3000
• Raw tokens: 25000 (8.3x budget)

Action: Hard truncate at ~12000 chars (3000 tokens * 4)

Output:

{
  "artifact_name": "outcomes.log",
  "raw_tokens": 25000,
  "compacted_tokens": 3000,
  "truncated": true,
  "content": "<first ~2900 tokens of log>\n\n[TRUNCATED: content exceeds budget, remaining 22000 tokens omitted]"
}

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Notes

• Context isolation: This skill runs in forked context. The raw artifact content does not pollute the parent agent's context.
• Token counting accuracy: Always prefer count_tokens.py output over estimates. Only fallback to heuristics on failure.
• Compression quality: Tier 2 strategies prioritize structural information (function signatures, keys) over verbose content (comments, redundant text).
• Budget enforcement: Tier 3 truncation is a hard stop. Judges must lower confidence when evaluating truncated artifacts.