context-budget
Installation
SKILL.md
Context Budget v2.5
Retrieval discipline is an arithmetic problem, not a judgement problem. Agents over-retrieve because more context feels safer; it is not, and the cost is dilution.
Budget
Default ceilings for a single Context Packet:
| Scope | Budget | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Single scene | 8,000 tokens | One POV, one location, one turn |
| Chapter | 20,000 tokens | Several scenes plus their consequences |
| Arc | 60,000 tokens | Multiple chapters and their debts |
| Full novel | 120,000 tokens | Whole-project audit |
Adjust downward when the model has a small context window. Overrun is a finding, not a shrug.
Measure before loading
Estimate tokens before committing to a packet. A rough method that needs no dependency: