When to Use
| Situation | Use |
|---|---|
| Context 70-90%, staying interactive | /compact |
| Context 90%+, need fresh start | /clear then continue |
| Long autonomous run, task-based | Fresh Context Pattern |
| Overnight/AFK execution | Fresh Context Pattern |
Good fit:
- Autonomous sessions >1 hour
- Migrations, large refactorings
- Tasks with clear success criteria (tests pass, build succeeds)
Poor fit:
- Interactive exploration
- Design without clear spec
- Tasks with slow/ambiguous feedback loops
Variant: Session-per-Concern Pipeline
Instead of looping the same task, dedicate a fresh session to each quality dimension:
- Plan session: Architecture, scope, acceptance criteria
- Test session: Write unit, integration, and E2E tests first (TDD)
- Implement session: Code until all linters and tests pass
- Review sessions: Separate sessions for security audit, performance, code review
- Repeat: Iterate with scope adjustments as needed
This combines Fresh Context (clean 200K per phase) with OpusPlan (Opus for review/strategy sessions, Sonnet for implementation). Each session generates progress artifacts that feed the next.