Context Partitioning

Context Partitioning — Manifest-First Dispatch

The Problem

Without explicit context isolation, the main orchestrator context window accumulates:

• Full file reads that were only needed once
• Subagent outputs that are already committed to disk
• Skill files that don't apply to the current task
• Historical reasoning that compaction will destroy anyway

Result: context bloat → compaction → rule violations → wrong output.

The Solution: Manifest-First

Rule: Before dispatching ANY subagent, the orchestrator MUST produce a typed manifest. The manifest is the subagent's entire world — it reads NOTHING outside its manifest.

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Manifest Format

{
  "agent": "frontend-specialist",
  "task": "Add persona avatar upload to SocialPersonasManager",
  "toolshed": "frontend",
  "token_budget": 60000,
  "files": {
    "must_read": [
      "src/components/social/SocialPersonasManager.tsx",
      "src/lib/businesses.ts"
    ],
    "reference_only": [
      "src/app/globals.css"
    ],
    "must_not_touch": [
      "src/lib/supabase/",
      "supabase/migrations/"
    ]
  },
  "skills": ["scientific-luxury", "react-best-practices"],
  "constraints": [
    "founder_id isolation — never workspace_id",
    "Scientific Luxury: #050505 bg, #00F5FF accent, rounded-sm only",
    "Framer Motion only — no CSS transitions"
  ],
  "success_criteria": "Avatar upload renders, persists to Supabase Storage, no TypeScript errors",
  "output_format": "edited_files_list + verification_tier_A_result",
  "verification_agent": "verification"
}

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Orchestrator Rules (Hard Constraints)

What the Orchestrator MUST do:

1. Glob/Grep only — discover file paths, never read file contents in main context 2. Produce manifest first — before calling any Agent tool 3. Pass manifest as prompt — subagent's entire context = manifest + agent.md 4. Receive structured summary — subagent returns file list + verification output, not full code

What the Orchestrator MUST NOT do:

• Read full file contents (use Grep for specific lines if truly needed)
• Hold subagent working files in main context
• Load skills that don't apply to the current routing decision
• Re-read files the subagent has already handled

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Token Budget Enforcement

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Context Scope Definitions

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Manifest-First Dispatch Protocol

Step 1 — DISCOVER (Orchestrator, Glob/Grep only)
  → Identify affected files by pattern, not by reading
  → Check VAULT-INDEX.md for known asset locations
  → Load toolshed entry from toolsheds.json

Step 2 — MANIFEST (Orchestrator, write manifest)
  → Populate must_read, reference_only, must_not_touch
  → Select max 5-6 skills from toolshed
  → Set token_budget from toolsheds.json
  → Write success_criteria in verifiable terms

Step 3 — DISPATCH (Orchestrator → Agent tool)
  → Pass manifest as the agent's complete prompt
  → Agent reads ONLY manifest.files.must_read
  → Agent loads ONLY manifest.skills

Step 4 — RETURN (Subagent → Orchestrator)
  → Return: list of files modified + verification output
  → Do NOT return full file contents
  → Do NOT return intermediate reasoning

Step 5 — INTEGRATE (Orchestrator)
  → Accept structured summary
  → Route to verification agent
  → Main context stays lean

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Anti-Patterns (Never Do)

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Integration with Toolsheds

This skill works in tandem with .claude/data/toolsheds.json:

• Each toolshed entry defines token_budget, skills, and context_scope
• Orchestrator selects toolshed by task domain → produces manifest → dispatches

Reference: .claude/AGENT_HARNESS.md Phase 4 for dispatch protocol.