/smol
(or its alias, /compact
) is a slash command that compresses your conversation history while preserving essential context.
Unlike /newtask
which creates a new task, /smol
condenses your current conversation into a comprehensive summary, freeing up context window space while allowing you to continue working in the same task.
Think of it like summarizing the relevant parts of a conversation while discarding the rest.
/smol
Slash Command/smol
(or its alias /compact
) in the chat input field/smol
when I’m deep into a complex debugging session and need to continue in the same task. After exploring multiple approaches and examining several files, my context window gets crowded with all the back-and-forth.
By using /smol
, I can condense all that exploration into a concise summary that captures what we’ve learned, which files we’ve examined, and what approaches we’ve tried. This frees up space to continue the debugging without losing the insights we’ve gained.
The key difference from /newtask
is that I’m staying in the same conversation flow rather than creating a separate task. This is particularly useful when I’m in the middle of something and don’t want to context switch.
/smol
in my workflow:
/smol
to condense our exploration before implementing the chosen solution, all within the same task./smol
to summarize what we’ve learned while continuing the debugging process./smol
after completing each feature to compress the implementation details while keeping the key decisions and approaches accessible./smol
to distill the essential needs into a concise summary before moving to the design phase./smol
vs /newtask
. Frankly, it’s a matter of personal preference and what you’re trying to achieve. Here are some guidelines:
/smol
when you’re in the middle of something and want to keep going in the same task. It’s perfect when you’re deep in a debugging flow or brainstorming session and don’t want to break your momentum. The downside? Once you compress your history, you can’t get those detailed conversations back./newtask
when you’re at a logical transition point and want to start fresh. It’s great for moving from planning to implementation, or when you want to preserve your full conversation history (since it creates a new task rather than overwriting your current one).