caveman-compress
🤖 AI Summary
Compresses natural language files (like CLAUDE.md or preferences) into caveman-speak to reduce token count, overwriting the original while saving a human-readable backup as `
How to Install
Claude Code:
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/JuliusBrussee/caveman.git && cp caveman/skills/caveman-compress ~/.claude/skills/caveman-compress -r# Caveman Compress
## Purpose
Compress natural language files (CLAUDE.md, todos, preferences) into caveman-speak to reduce input tokens. Compressed version overwrites original. Human-readable backup saved as `.original.md`.
## Trigger
`/caveman-compress ` or when user asks to compress a memory file.
## Process
1. The compression scripts live in `scripts/` (adjacent to this SKILL.md). If the path is not immediately available, search for `scripts/__main__.py` next to this SKILL.md.
2. From the directory containing this SKILL.md, run:
python3 -m scripts
3. The CLI will:
- detect file type (no tokens)
- call Claude to compress
- validate output (no tokens)
- if errors: cherry-pick fix with Claude (targeted fixes only, no recompression)
- retry up to 2 times
- if still failing after 2 retries: report error to user, leave original file untouched
4. Return result to user
## Compression Rules
### Remove
- Articles: a, an, the
- Filler: just, really, basically, actually, simply, essentially, generally
- Pleasantries: "sure", "certainly", "of course", "happy to", "I'd recommend"
- Hedging: "it might be worth", "you could consider", "it would be good to"
- Redundant phrasing: "in order to" → "to", "make sure to" → "ensure", "the reason is because" → "because"
- Connective fluff: "however", "furthermore", "additionally", "in addition"
### Preserve EXACTLY (never modify)
- Code blocks (fenced ``` and indented)
- Inline code (`backtick content`)
- URLs and links (full URLs, markdown links)
- File paths (`/src/components/...`, `./config.yaml`)
- Commands (`npm install`, `git commit`, `docker build`)
- Technical terms (library names, API names, protocols, algorithms)
- Proper nouns (project names, people, companies)
- Dates, version numbers, numeric values
- Environment variables (`$HOME`, `NODE_ENV`)
### Preserve Structure
- All markdown headings (keep exact heading text, compress body below)
- Bullet point hierarchy (keep nesting level)
- Numbered lists (keep numbering)
- Tables (compress cell text, keep structure)
- Frontmatter/YAML headers in markdown files
### Compress
- Use short synonyms: "big" not "extensive", "fix" not "implement a solution for", "use" not "utilize"
- Fragments OK: "Run tests before commit" not "You should always run tests before committing"
- Drop "you should", "make sure to", "remember to" — just state the action
- Merge redundant bullets that say the same thing differently
- Keep one example where multiple examples show the same pattern
CRITICAL RULE:
Anything inside ``` ... ``` must be copied EXACTLY.
Do not:
- remove comments
- remove spacing
- reorder lines
- shorten commands
- simplify anything
Inline code (`...`) must be preserved EXACTLY.
Do not modify anything inside backticks.
If file contains code blocks:
- Treat code blocks as read-only regions
- Only compress text outside them
- Do not merge sections around code
## Pattern
Original:
> You should always make sure t
Details
| Category | Coding → generation |
| Source | JuliusBrussee/caveman |
| SKILL.md | View on GitHub → |
| Repo Stars | ★ 76.2K |
| Est. per Skill | ~10.9K (shared across 7 skills from this repo) |
| Difficulty | Intermediate |
| Risk Level | N/A |
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