governor

Governor for Claude Code

Keep long AI coding sessions sharp under quota pressure.

Now also works with Cursor · Windsurf · Cline · Codex CLI · Gemini CLI

Quick Start · Multi-Agent · Why Governor · Benchmarks · Commands · Install

Governor started as a Claude Code plugin for context hygiene, tool-output filtering, memory compression, telemetry, and drift guardrails.

As of v0.2.3, Governor's core behavior — content-aware tool-output filtering and context hygiene — works with any AI coding agent via prompt-based skills. No hooks or MCP required.

Keep long coding sessions efficient without making the model dumber.

The Claude Code command namespace is /governor:*.

Quick Start

Claude Code (full plugin)

bash install.sh --force

Restart Claude Code, then run:

/governor:status
/governor:audit
/governor:compress CLAUDE.md

Other Agents (prompt-based skill)

bash install.sh --project /path/to/project --agents all

This copies a Governor rules file into your project for each agent. The rules teach the agent to self-filter noisy tool output, preserve unique data, and maintain context hygiene — automatically, every session.

Multi-Agent Support

Governor works at two levels:

Agent	Integration	What You Get
Claude Code	Plugin with hooks	Full: auto-filtering, telemetry, compression, drift guard, /governor:* commands
Cursor	.cursor/rules/governor.mdc	Self-filtering, compact mode, context hygiene
Windsurf	.windsurf/rules/governor.md	Self-filtering, compact mode, context hygiene
Cline	.clinerules/governor.md	Self-filtering, compact mode, context hygiene
Codex CLI	AGENTS.md	Self-filtering, compact mode, context hygiene
Gemini CLI	GEMINI.md	Self-filtering, compact mode, context hygiene

How it works for non-Claude agents: Governor's rules file teaches the agent to apply content-aware filtering itself. When tool output has >40% duplicate lines (test failures, log spam, build warnings), the agent compresses it — keeping the first error, file:line, and exit code. When output is unique (API responses, JSON, code), it passes through intact. No external dependencies.

Claude Code gets the deepest integration because it supports plugin hooks. Other agents get the core behavior via prompt engineering.

Why Governor

Long coding sessions usually do not fail because the AI writes one extra paragraph.

They fail because context gets polluted:

• verbose test, build, and MCP output floods the transcript
• bloated recurring files like CLAUDE.md, notes, and rules tax every session
• broad prompts trigger repo-wide scans and retries
• scope drift compounds over time

Governor is designed for that failure mode — in Claude Code and beyond.

What It Does

Capability	What it does	Where it works
Tool-output filtering	Compacts noisy output when content is repetitive; preserves unique data	All agents
Compact mode	Keeps responses concise and professional	All agents
Context hygiene	Avoids re-reads, broad scans, and context waste	All agents
Memory compression	Rewrites bloated prompt files into denser, safer forms	Claude Code
Telemetry	Reports measured savings, failures, compactions, and waste heat	Claude Code
Drift guardrails	Adds planning and scope checks for broad tasks	Claude Code

Why It Feels Different

Most token-saving tools optimize one layer:

• shorter replies
• shorter command output

Governor is built for the broader session problem:

• tool spam
• recurring context tax
• MCP-heavy workflows
• long-task drift
• wasted retries

That is why Governor's benchmark story starts with valid-context loss and decision preservation, not only token counts.

Benchmarks

V2 Sonnet Fixture Run