Agent skill · software engineering · juliusbrussee
caveman-compress
Compress a memory file such as CLAUDE.md or a todo list into caveman format to save input tokens, keeping a readable backup. Trigger: /caveman-compress.
Why this skill is useful
Adds a specialized script for compressing natural language files while preserving technical content, which the AI wouldn't reliably generate on its own.
What it needs
Requires python3 installed locally. About 3k tokens when loaded. Last updated 2026-08-04. 96,517 stars on the source repository.
What this skill does
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 <filename>.original.md, but NOT beside the source file — it lives in an out-of-tree data dir ($XDGDATAHOME/caveman-compress/backups/<parent-dir-name>/, or %LOCALAPPDATA%\caveman-compress\backups\<parent-dir-name>\ on Windows) so skill auto-loaders don't re-ingest it as a live file. Trigger /caveman-compress <filepath> 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 <absolutefilepath> 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 ... 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. …
How to use it
Reference it in AdaL, Claude Code, Cursor or any coding agent — nothing to install:
@skills juliusbrussee/caveman-compress--845a68