Practical use.
A selective packet should let the next agent act without rereading a long transcript. Its value comes from choosing the evidence needed for the next decision, not from making the packet short at any cost.
Selective Recovery Packet.
ShardStitch builds hot context instead of dumping the whole transcript: current goal, changed files, decisions, failed attempts, verification state, and next action.
What it carries.
- Current goal and next smallest action
- Changed files and relevant diff
- Decisions and failed attempts
- Known truth separated from inferred next steps
How it fits ShardStitch.
This feature controls packet scope: include the evidence needed for the next action while leaving irrelevant history and abandoned branches behind.
What belongs in a useful packet.
A good packet answers five questions quickly: what was being attempted, which files changed, what was already tried, what is verified, and what is the smallest safe next action. It can omit unrelated transcript turns while retaining the decision or failure that the next AI must not repeat.
Review the selected files and claims before handing the packet to another tool. Selective context reduces noise, but it does not remove the need to verify the repository after the next edit.
Build around the next verifiable action.
When preparing a handoff, identify the next action first. Include only the current goal, files and diff relevant to that action, decisions that constrain it, failed approaches, and the checks already run.
- Name one concrete next action and the file or command that can verify it.
- Keep unrelated past debugging branches out unless they explain a constraint or a failure that must not be repeated.
- Mark missing evidence and unresolved questions so brevity does not hide uncertainty.
Worked example.
For a one-file bug fix, the packet might contain the failing behavior, the exact file and diff, the reproduction command, what the command returned, one failed approach, and the next check. Leave unrelated setup discussion out. If an omitted design decision constrains the fix, add that decision and its source instead of relying on the next agent to infer it.
Limits and verification.
Selective context is not a license to discard a decision, safety constraint, or known failure just to reduce length. If the next action depends on broader architecture or a prior trade-off, include that evidence and explain why it matters.