Module 08 opening video · ~3 minutes · watch one session fill, rot, and recover with the four levers
> /context
Context window: 200k tokens
Memory files
CLAUDE.md (project) 1.9k
MEMORY.md (auto memory) 0.7k
System prompt 4.2k
Tools and skills (listing) 0.9k
Used before your first word: ~8k
Nothing you typed is in here yet.> which class validates an incoming claim?
Reading IntakeController.java
Reading ProviderIdRule.java
Reading TimelyFilingRule.java
Three files enter the window. They stay
there for the rest of the session, whether
or not the next question needs them.{ order_id: 88213, member_id: 40021,
status: "rejected", amount: 412.50,
currency: "USD", created: "2026-08-11",
updated: "2026-08-12", channel: "portal",
plan_code: "H2", provider_npi: ...,
provider_name: ..., provider_addr_1: ...,
provider_addr_2: ..., provider_city: ...,
... 26 more fields ...
}
Five fields answer the question. Forty
sit in the window. Every later answer
spends attention on the other thirty five.> which class validates an incoming claim?
The validation layer typically handles
that through a set of rule classes.
(10am answer: IntakeController hands each
claim to ProviderIdRule, TimelyFilingRule,
and DuplicateClaimRule.)
Same model. Same files still in the
window. The specific answer is in there,
in the middle, under 150k tokens of
later reading. This is context rot.> /compact focus on the claims validation
question
Conversation compacted.
Re-read CLAUDE.md
Re-read MEMORY.md
Read TimelyFilingRule.java
Read findings.md
The history is now one summary. The files
that survive were reloaded from disk, not
remembered. Anything you said only in
conversation is in the summary or gone.2026-08-29 | intake/IntakeController.java
entry point for every claim
2026-08-29 | intake/rules/ProviderIdRule.java
rejects a claim with no provider ID
2026-08-29 | intake/rules/TimelyFilingRule.java
180 days; 3 payer code exceptions
A file is outside the window. It does not
rot, it does not get summarized, and
Claude reads it back when asked. One line
per fact, with its path and date.> use a subagent to list every test file
and what each covers. i only want the list
(subagent: reads 62 files in its own
window, 140k tokens of reading)
Report back to you: 62 lines.
Your window grew by the 62 line report.
The 140k tokens of reading never touched
it. This is delegation, the third lever.CLAUDE.md (excerpt):
Provider letter templates live in
intake/letters/. Read a template only
when a question is about letters.
A pointer costs one line. The 30 template
files cost nothing until a question needs
one, and then only that one loads. The
window holds references, and loads content
when it matters.