Cold-split the large eagerly-loaded references (review-triggers.md 40 KB, seams.md 25 KB) #246

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opened 2026-08-23 20:43:31 +00:00 by john · 0 comments

john commented

2026-08-23 20:43:31 +00:00

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Every fire or dispatch site loads a whole reference file to use one branch of it.

cadence-core/references/review-triggers.md is 40,413 B. A risk_surface fire loads the plan, diff and phase_diff prose it will never read.
cadence-core/references/seams.md is 25,068 B. An ask-only site loads the entire spawn-agent and provider contract.

This is the one change that would visibly move what a run costs.

Acceptance criteria

The entrypoint is a small router with an unambiguous branch decision.
Cold files load only after their branch is selected.
NO safety rule lives solely in a cold file ahead of the branch decision that needs it.
self-verify checks every include target, so each branch still loads its required contract.

A separate context-reduction assessment measured the main-thread load per command and found the same shape elsewhere: references/git.md ~3,354 words and loaded by 10 workflows, references/acceptance-criteria.md ~3,568 words, workflows/verify.md ~1,839 words against verify-deep.md's 319 (the cold-branch split already applied there, and working). verify.md/verify-deep.md is the pattern to copy.

Note review-triggers.md has grown since this was first measured and is now over its pre-existing budget line, so the weight pin moves in the same commit.

Moved to GitHub: https://github.com/crenshawdev/cadence/issues/95

This project's tracker is now GitHub; this repository remains the public archive. Closed here as migrated, not as resolved.

Every fire or dispatch site loads a whole reference file to use one branch of it. - `cadence-core/references/review-triggers.md` is 40,413 B. A `risk_surface` fire loads the `plan`, `diff` and `phase_diff` prose it will never read. - `cadence-core/references/seams.md` is 25,068 B. An ask-only site loads the entire spawn-agent and provider contract. This is the one change that would visibly move what a run costs. ## Acceptance criteria - The entrypoint is a small router with an unambiguous branch decision. - Cold files load only after their branch is selected. - NO safety rule lives solely in a cold file ahead of the branch decision that needs it. - self-verify checks every include target, so each branch still loads its required contract. ## Related measurement A separate context-reduction assessment measured the main-thread load per command and found the same shape elsewhere: `references/git.md` ~3,354 words and loaded by 10 workflows, `references/acceptance-criteria.md` ~3,568 words, `workflows/verify.md` ~1,839 words against `verify-deep.md`'s 319 (the cold-branch split already applied there, and working). `verify.md`/`verify-deep.md` is the pattern to copy. Note `review-triggers.md` has grown since this was first measured and is now over its pre-existing budget line, so the weight pin moves in the same commit. --- **Moved to GitHub: https://github.com/crenshawdev/cadence/issues/95** This project's tracker is now GitHub; this repository remains the public archive. Closed here as migrated, not as resolved.