auditlisted

# Hot context audit (audit) Instruction files are the most expensive text in a repository: every line is paid for on every request, forever. This shows what is actually loaded, what it costs and what is broken. Local only, no quota. **Language rule: write every user-facing output in the language the user is speaking with you.** **Honesty rule: token counts are a bytes-over-four estimate, not a real tokenizer. Say "estimated" every time you quote one; never present it as an exact figure.** ## Step 1 — Inventory ``` node "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/gardener.mjs" --audit --repo "<repo>" --md ``` Default `--repo` is the current directory. Read `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/audit/references/checks.md` before triaging — it explains what each check means and when it is safe to ignore. The report resolves `@path` imports transitively, so the file list is what actually loads — not what the top-level file appears to say. A file marked ⚠ failed to resolve. ## Step 2 — Read the cost table first The findings matter less than the first table. Three questions, in order: 1. **What is the total?** Under ~4k estimated tokens is comfortable. Past ~8k the agent starts every request with a large fraction of its attention already spent. 2. **Which file dominates?** Usually one file is 70–90% of the total. That is where the work is; everything else is rounding. 3. **Is anything loading that you forgot about?** Import chains are the usual surprise — a global file pulling in thre