[FEATURE] Compact before starting a new plan step instead of in the middle of code changes

[TimeHunter81]

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing requests and this feature hasn't been requested yet
• [x] This is a single feature request (not multiple features)

Problem Statement

Compaction happening during code changes bear lower-quality code being written, compared to when we compact once a step has been completed before starting a new one.

Proposed Solution

In VS Code extension, it tends to trigger compaction around 80%, so starting at 65%, it should look into triggering compaction if there are still planned steps to complete.

Two ways this could be done:

• Inject context window percentage into system reminders for model-aware compaction. And then it's a claude.md guidance each user would add.
• Native option, handled by Claude without system reminders. Downside of this is that you guys at Anthropic tend to prioritize CLI over VS Code extension for new feature delivery, and I use VS Code extension...

Alternative Solutions

I wish I could have done this with hooks, but hooks are not supported yet by the VSCode extension (tracked under https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/8985).

Side note that the feature category drop-down for a new feature request in the repo only has "CLI commands and flags", and nothing about the VSCode extension.

Priority

High - Significant impact on productivity

Feature Category

CLI commands and flags

Use Case Example

Provided as part of the proposed solution.

Additional Context

No response

[TimeHunter81]

I forgot another benefit: if compaction happens right after publishing a plan or a response to the user, we lose less time since we read while compaction is happening.

[github-actions[bot]]

Found 2 possible duplicate issues:

1. https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/9971
2. https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/7627

This issue will be automatically closed as a duplicate in 3 days.

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🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[github-actions[bot]]

This issue has been automatically closed as a duplicate of #9971.

If this is incorrect, please re-open this issue or create a new one.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[github-actions[bot]]

This issue has been automatically locked since it was closed and has not had any activity for 7 days. If you're experiencing a similar issue, please file a new issue and reference this one if it's relevant.