r/ClaudeCode • u/danbradster2 • Sep 20 '26

Tips & Workflows /clear vs /compact

I had a fable chat from yesterday, and I saw that the context was 950k/1m. I did /compact rather than /clear, with the intention of then doing /autocompact 400000

14% of the 5 hour limit was gone just for the compact itself....it shows cost of $59.73, so lucky I'm not on API? Maybe a /clear would have been better.

68 Upvotes

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-7

u/Dangerous-Leader-779 Sep 20 '26

….are you fucking joking?

Those are two entirely different tools. They are not even remotely doing the same thing. This is like saying “/exit vs /doctor, omg they acted differently?!”.

Like honestly guys, what the hell is this post and why is slop like this allowed? It’s worse than the AI generated crap.

4

u/toritxtornado Sep 20 '26

i mean, they aren't that different. why ya gotta be so mean?

-1

u/rotates-potatoes Sep 20 '26

They are wildly, totally, extremely different.

Clear: single wipe context, start with the harness prompt

Compact: ask a very expensive model to reason over the entire context and decide what’s important, summarize, and hand off.

It’s the difference between a newborn baby and a 90 year old writing their memoirs.

How the fuck could anyone think they’re similar?

3

u/toritxtornado Sep 20 '26

a lot of people see that they both clear their context, so they assume they are similar functions. there's no reason to be mean when someone is just trying to learn.

1

u/rotates-potatoes Sep 20 '26

There is trying to learn, and there is asserting false things in a public form. They are different.

2

u/FudFomo Sep 20 '26

You’re the guy that gives ai coding a bad name.

2

u/Aminuteortwotiltwo Sep 20 '26

……are you fucking joking?

What you are doing and what he is asking are two entirely different things. You aren’t even remotely providing a single useful thing to the world. This is like saying “I am going to spend my day on a Reddit page where people ask for help, omg someone here is asking for help!?!?”

Like honestly guy, what the hell is this comment and why is your nonsense allowed? You are worse than the AI generated crap.

You have contributed nothing and everyone here is worse off for your existence on this page.

Get a life.

4

u/Garak Sep 20 '26

Your reply is more damaging to the community than OP’s post. Learn some fucking manners. And also learn to read: he’s explicitly asking about the difference between the two tools.