How to Fix OpenClaw Compaction Cost Issues

# Compaction flow:
# 1. Conversation reaches X% of context window (default: 60%)
# 2. OpenClaw selects older messages to summarize
# 3. Sends those messages to your configured model
# 4. Model returns a summary
# 5. Original messages replaced with summary

# Check if compaction is happening:
grep "compaction triggered" ~/.openclaw/logs/system.log | tail -20

# View recent compaction costs:
grep "compaction_cost" ~/.openclaw/logs/tokens.log | \
  awk '{sum+=$3} END {print "Total compaction cost: $"sum}'

# View current compaction config:
cat ~/.openclaw/config/compaction.yaml

# If this file doesn't exist, defaults are:
# - trigger_threshold: 0.6 (60%)
# - model: (inherits your primary model)
# - max_summary_tokens: 4000
# - preserve_recent_messages: 5

# Create or edit config/compaction.yaml:
compaction:
  model: anthropic/claude-3-haiku
  trigger_threshold: 0.8  # Wait until 80% full
  max_summary_tokens: 2000
  preserve_recent_messages: 10

  # Optional: disable compaction for short conversations
  min_messages_before_compact: 20

# In config/compaction.yaml:
compaction:
  trigger_threshold: 0.85  # Only compact at 85% full

  # This reduces compaction frequency significantly:
  # At 60%: Compacts every ~15 messages (default)
  # At 85%: Compacts every ~25 messages

  # For very long conversations, consider:
  trigger_threshold: 0.9  # Compact at 90% full

# In config/context.yaml:
context:
  max_messages_in_context: 30  # Default is often 50+
  max_tokens_per_message: 1500

  # Exclude system messages from context:
  include_system_messages: false

  # Summarize code blocks before adding to context:
  summarize_code_blocks: true
  max_code_block_tokens: 500

# Track compaction costs over one week:
# Before changes:
grep "compaction_cost" ~/.openclaw/logs/tokens.log.old | \
  awk '{sum+=$3} END {print "Before: $"sum}'

# After changes (wait 1 week):
grep "compaction_cost" ~/.openclaw/logs/tokens.log | \
  awk '{sum+=$3} END {print "After: $"sum}'

# Expected savings: 70-85% reduction in compaction costs