Handoff, clear, compact

/clear wipes the conversation to zero. /compact replaces it with a summary the model writes. A handoff is a file you have Claude write: the goal, what's decided, what's done, what's next, and every constraint. When the window fills in the middle of one listing, the default is handoff, then /clear, then a fresh start with 'read handoff.md and continue.' You can read and fix that file; you never see what a summary dropped. Compact only at a phase boundary (research done, draft done), and tell it what to keep. Never compact mid-task. The danger is a summary that quietly drops one rule, like 'drafts only, never email the seller directly,' and a model that carries on as if the rule never existed. Auto-compact firing on its own in the middle of work does exactly that. And /clear before you switch to a different client.