Key points
- Context degradation shows up as inconsistency and generic descriptions replacing concrete findings.
- Scratchpad files persist key findings across context boundaries; later questions refer back to them.
- Subagents isolate verbose exploration output; the main agent keeps the high-level plan.
- Summarize one phase's findings before spawning the next phase's subagents and inject the summary into their initial context.
- Crash recovery: each agent exports structured state to a known location; the coordinator loads a manifest on resume and injects state into agent prompts.
- /compact reduces context during an extended session when discovery output has filled it.
Common misconceptions
- "A larger window prevents degradation." Noise accumulates regardless of size.
- "Saving transcripts is the same as saving state." Transcripts are mostly tool output and overflow on resume.
- "Subagents know what the main agent found." They see only what is put in their prompt.
Watch for
Options that restart from scratch, re-paste earlier answers, or truncate searches. The best answer preserves specific findings in a small, durable form and keeps the noisy work out of the main context.
Practice Task 5.4
Start with the free 10-question check to see where you stand across all five domains. In CCA Prep Studio, 55 practice items cover this task, each tracked toward your mastery score.