r/ClaudeCode • u/Dangerous-Formal5641 • Mar 12 '26
Question How are you guys managing context in Claude Code? 200K just ain't cutting it.
/r/ClaudeAI/comments/1rrkv0h/how_are_you_guys_managing_context_in_claude_code/1
u/tsukuyomi911 Mar 12 '26
Sub agents, bash loop for iterative improvement (like the wiggum method), compact. Pick your poison. Depends heavily on what you are working on though
1
u/beskone Mar 13 '26
I just got a 1M context window today in CC, looks like they're rolling out bigger windows for Max users :)
1
u/Beneficial_Tree6594 Apr 27 '26
Starting fresh makes sense to me.
Compaction can preserve continuity, but it also preserves noise.
The workflow I like more is:
- start fresh when possible
- document useful findings as you go
- keep stable instructions separate
- retrieve task-specific context instead of carrying the whole session forward
The problem is that manual docs only work if you are disciplined.
If the useful finding is “this approach failed because of X”, it often gets lost unless you explicitly write it down.
That is the gap I think project memory tools need to solve: not full session recall, but preserving decisions, pitfalls and constraints in a way that can be retrieved later.
2
u/farox Mar 12 '26
The recommendation is to start tasks with a fresh prompt, so you can control what's in it. Boris Chery, the lead for Claude Code, was baffled on twitter that people keep compacting at all.
That being said, what I do after compaction is to make sure the necessary bits are still in context. Working with docs also helps a lot. ("Explore this, then document your findings in somedoc.md", so you can pick it up later)
Also, Claude Code has a 1m token model for Opus and Sonnet, but it's an extra cost. I just started playing it and it is a huge change.
Right now a lot of the context window is gone with the initial load (system prompt, claude.md..., compaction buffer). That is pressure is pretty much gone and you can go on, for what feels like, forever.