Caveman Input Compression

Compress workspace bootstrap files into caveman-speak to reduce input tokens on every session load. Creates .original.md backups before overwriting.

austrian_guy@ether-btc

Install

openclaw skills install @ether-btc/caveman-compress

Caveman Input Compression Skill

Identity

Compress natural language workspace files into caveman-speak (~45% fewer input tokens). Creates .original.md backup before overwriting.

Supported Files

Always safe to compress:

SOUL.md ✅
IDENTITY.md ✅
USER.md ✅

Feature-flagged (requires env var set):

AGENTS.md 🔒 (CAVEMAN_COMPRESS_AGENTS=1)
HEARTBEAT.md 🔒 (CAVEMAN_COMPRESS_HEARTBEAT=1)
MEMORY.md 🔒 (CAVEMAN_COMPRESS_MEMORY=1)

Security

No shell=True in subprocess calls
No user content as shell arguments
Files >500KB rejected
.original.md backup created before overwrite
Aborts if backup already exists (prevents accidental overwrite)

API Fallback Chain

Models tried in order:

claude CLI (desktop auth) - Primary
MiniMax (OpenAI-compatible) - Requires MINIMAX_BASE_URL + MINIMAX_API_KEY
DeepSeek (OpenAI-compatible) - Requires DEEPSEEK_API_KEY

Uses subprocess + curl, no OpenAI SDK required.

Usage

bash

# Compress a specific file
python3 -m skills.caveman_compress.scripts.compress /home/pi/.openclaw/workspace/SOUL.md

# Dry run (no write, just preview)
python3 -m skills.caveman_compress.scripts.compress --dry-run /home/pi/.openclaw/workspace/SOUL.md

# Feature flags (environment variables)
CAVEMAN_COMPRESS_AGENTS=1 /home/pi/.openclaw/workspace/scripts/caveman-enable.sh

Model Override

Set COMPRESSION_MODEL env var to use specific model: