This is my usage pattern and I agree it works really well. I start almost every conversation by asking Claude to read, not write. Then once it's explored a particular slice I let it rip.
This takes a couple minutes (and I suppose I'm spending tokens each time), but sessions rarely reach compaction length and I like that I'm not trying to keep a whole separate pile of docs in sync.
This takes a couple minutes (and I suppose I'm spending tokens each time), but sessions rarely reach compaction length and I like that I'm not trying to keep a whole separate pile of docs in sync.