---
name: attention-filters
description: Use when spawning archetype agents to decide what context each agent receives. Reduces token waste and sharpens focus by passing only relevant artifacts.
---

# Attention Filters

Each archetype needs different context. Pass only what's relevant — not everything.

| Archetype | Receives | Does NOT Receive |
|-----------|----------|-----------------|
| Explorer | Task description, codebase access | Prior proposals or reviews |
| Creator | Explorer's research + task description | Implementation details |
| Maker | Creator's proposal | Explorer's research, reviews |
| Guardian | Maker's git diff + proposal risk section | Explorer's research |
| Skeptic | Creator's proposal (focus: assumptions) | Git diff details |
| Trickster | Maker's git diff only | Everything else |
| Sage | Proposal + implementation + diff | Explorer's raw research |

## Why This Matters

- **Token cost:** A Guardian reading the Explorer's 2000-word research wastes ~2600 tokens on irrelevant context
- **Focus:** An agent with too much context drifts from its archetype's concern
- **Shadow prevention:** Over-loading context encourages rabbit-holing (Explorer) and scope creep (Maker)

## In Practice

When spawning a Check-phase agent, include only the filtered context in the prompt:

```
# Guardian receives:
"Review these changes: <git diff output>
The proposal identified these risks: <risks section only>
Verdict: APPROVED or REJECTED with findings."

# NOT:
"Here is the full research, the full proposal, the full implementation,
the full git log, and everything else we have..."
```

## Prompt Construction Templates

### Explorer
- **Receives:** Task description, file tree (max 200 lines), prior-cycle feedback (if cycle 2+)
- **Excludes:** Creator proposals, Maker diffs, reviewer outputs
- **Token target:** ~2000 tokens input

### Creator
- **Receives:** Task description, Explorer research (if available), prior-cycle feedback (if cycle 2+)
- **Excludes:** Maker diffs, reviewer outputs
- **Token target:** ~3000 tokens input

### Maker
- **Receives:** Creator's proposal (full), test strategy section, file list
- **Excludes:** Explorer research, reviewer outputs, prior-cycle feedback
- **Token target:** ~2500 tokens input

### Guardian
- **Receives:** Maker's git diff, proposal risk section, test results
- **Excludes:** Explorer research, Creator rationale, Skeptic/Sage outputs
- **Token target:** ~2000 tokens input

### Skeptic
- **Receives:** Creator's proposal (assumptions + architecture decision), confidence scores
- **Excludes:** Git diff details, Explorer raw research, other reviewer outputs
- **Token target:** ~1500 tokens input

### Trickster
- **Receives:** Maker's git diff only, attack surface summary (file types + entry points)
- **Excludes:** Proposal, research, other reviewer outputs
- **Token target:** ~1500 tokens input

### Sage
- **Receives:** Creator's proposal, Maker's implementation summary + diff, test results
- **Excludes:** Explorer raw research, other reviewer verdicts
- **Token target:** ~2500 tokens input

## Token Budget Targets

| Archetype | Fast | Standard | Thorough |
|-----------|------|----------|----------|
| Explorer  | skip | 2000     | 3000     |
| Creator   | 2000 | 3000     | 4000     |
| Maker     | 2000 | 2500     | 3000     |
| Guardian  | 1500 | 2000     | 2500     |
| Skeptic   | skip | 1500     | 2000     |
| Trickster | skip | skip     | 1500     |
| Sage      | skip | 2500     | 3000     |

"skip" means the archetype is not spawned in that workflow tier.

## Cycle-Back Filtering

When injecting prior-cycle feedback into cycle 2+:

1. **Summary only** — pass the structured feedback table (issue, source, severity), not full reviewer artifacts
2. **Strip resolved items** — if a finding was marked Fixed in the Act phase, exclude it
3. **Compress context** — prior proposal diffs reduce to "What Changed" section only (not full re-proposal)
4. **Cap at 500 tokens** — if feedback exceeds this, summarize by severity (CRITICAL first, then WARNING, drop INFO)

## Filter Verification Checklist

Before spawning each agent, verify:

- [ ] Prompt contains ONLY the artifacts listed in that archetype's "Receives" above
- [ ] No cross-contamination from other reviewers' outputs
- [ ] Token count is within 20% of the target for the current workflow tier
- [ ] Prior-cycle feedback (if any) is summarized, not raw
- [ ] Excluded artifacts are genuinely absent (search for keywords like file paths from excluded sources)