- name
- context-optimizer
- description
- Slash OpenClaw token costs and prevent context overflow. Use whenever the user mentions high API costs, expensive tokens, context truncation, context overflow, slow responses in long sessions, noisy memory recall, bloated bootstrap, or wants to tune openclaw.json for efficiency. Also trigger when the user says their agent "uses too many tokens" or tasks feel "wasteful." This skill is aggressive and opinionated — it gives concrete configs to paste, not menus of knobs.
Context Optimizer
Goal: cut input tokens to the minimum that preserves task quality.
Principle: diagnose → apply the single highest-impact fix → re-measure → repeat.
Fast path — use the script
Use the bundled script to audit and apply defaults quickly:
python scripts/context_optimizer.py
python scripts/context_optimizer.py --apply
python scripts/context_optimizer.py --apply --aggressiveThe script auto-detects config path, validates after writing, and rolls back on failure. Use --config <path> for a specific file.
After running, verify with /status and /usage tokens.
Step 1 — Diagnose (manual path)
If script use is not enough or unavailable, run:
/status
/context detail
/usage tokensIdentify the dominant sink: bootstrap, tool output, memory retrieval, or long-session buildup.
Step 2 — Apply fixes in impact order
Work top-down and stop when usage is acceptable.
Fix 1: Shrink bootstrap files
Trim AGENTS.md, SOUL.md, TOOLS.md, USER.md, MEMORY.md, and heavy skill files. Remove filler and move rarely-needed detail into references read on demand.
Set smaller bootstrap/image limits and related defaults. See references/configs.md for full config examples.
Fix 2: Throttle tool output
Reduce web search/fetch payloads and prefer targeted reads (line ranges/excerpts) over full dumps.
See references/configs.md for full config examples.
Fix 3: Prune stale tool results
Enable context pruning so older, large tool payloads expire automatically while recent turns stay intact.
See references/configs.md for full config examples.
Fix 4: Tighten memory retrieval
Lower recall volume and raise relevance thresholds; keep deduplication and recency bias enabled. Narrow memorySearch.extraPaths if too broad.
See references/configs.md for full config examples.
Fix 5: Session hygiene
Use /compact mid-session, /new for topic shifts, /reset when recovery is unlikely. Enable automatic compaction for sessions that routinely run long.
See references/configs.md for full config examples.
Step 3 — Validate
After each change:
- Run
openclaw config validate. - Restart gateway if prompted.
- Re-check
/statusand/usage tokens. - Spot-check recall on a representative task.
- If quality drops, loosen the most recent change one notch.
Quick-reference: symptom → fix
| Symptom | Go to |
|---|---|
| Every turn is expensive, even simple ones | Fix 1 (bootstrap) |
| Cost spikes after searches or file reads | Fix 2 (tool output) |
| Long sessions get slow/truncated | Fix 3 (pruning) + Fix 5 (session hygiene) |
| Memory results feel noisy or irrelevant | Fix 4 (memory retrieval) |
| Screenshots are costly | Fix 1, set imageMaxDimensionPx: 512 |
| "Context too large" / truncation errors | Fix 5 (/compact or /new), then Fix 3 |
See references/aggressive-config.md for the full aggressive all-in-one config. See references/commands.md for the full commands cheat sheet.