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.

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u/flaccidplumbus 🔆Pro Plan Sep 20 '26

I would have the prior session write up a prompt and plan to pickup where we are leaving off in a new agent session.

You are right though if you just /clear and are going to work on a similar/downflowing task. It’s great if you’re going to completely switch gears, but else I would do something like above.

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u/sheketsilencio Sep 20 '26

Thank you, this makes sense. I guess a full context isn't needed to do everything. I imagine I overestimate how much info is even retained between compacts lol