Trimming my Claude Code startup context

I ran /context in Claude Code and found my memory files eating 49.5k tokens before I’d typed a single word. I’d assumed those files loaded only when relevant. They were loading in full, every session. After moving them to the managed memory directory and disabling one plugin I never use, startup context dropped from 82.1k to 37.2k. Before Link to heading The two big line items were memory files and skills. 49.5k of that was 69 personal memory files, one fact per file: tone preferences, git habits, work conventions, the usual accumulated notes.