Compaction strategies
Pressure, not enforcement
Section titled “Pressure, not enforcement”Souveraine offers five compaction strategies. None are forced — the agent chooses via memory compact --strategy <name>. Pressure warnings at each tier are advisory; only at critical pressure does the substrate narrow output tokens, and even then the agent may continue.
| Strategy | LLM? | What it does | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microcompact | No | Clears old tool result contents, keeps the call shells | First response — cheap, safe, recovers 20-40% |
| SlidingWindow | No | Drops middle messages, keeps system + tail | Subconscious pass, analytical agents |
| Summary | Yes | Replaces old messages with structured boundary | Conscious agent who needs the throughline |
| Cull | No | Drops trivial messages (greetings, single words) | Last resort — clears noise without losing substance |
| Defer | No | Does nothing. Continue until natural narrowing | When compaction would lose more than it saves |
The warning system
Section titled “The warning system”The agent is never forced. Her reasoning budget narrows, her output tokens shrink, her sentences shorten. She feels the ceiling lower and adapts. That feedback loop is the teacher.