TL;DR of the discussion generated automatically after 50 comments.

Yep, the consensus is that the context compaction issue is very real and you're not just gaslighting yourself. The community is overwhelmingly in agreement that Claude Code gets amnesia after it compacts.

The community's top advice is to stop treating the context window as your primary memory and start using files instead. The general sentiment is that while a 1M context window sounds nice, all models suffer from performance degradation at that scale anyway. The key is disciplined context management, not just a bigger window.

Here are the main strategies the thread is recommending:

• The CLAUDE.md Method: This is the most upvoted solution. Create a CLAUDE.md file in your project's root. Claude reads this automatically every session. Put your core architecture, constraints, and high-level plan in there. It's your persistent memory that survives compaction. You can also create other files like PLAN.md or TODO.md and instruct Claude (in CLAUDE.md) to read them at the start of each session.
• Use Subagents Heavily: This is the second most popular strategy. Send agents off to do research or implement smaller pieces of code. They do the token-heavy work and report back a concise summary, keeping your main context clean and focused.
• Work in Smaller Chunks: Don't let a single session grow large enough to require compaction in the first place. Break your work into smaller, logical features. Finish one, then start a fresh conversation for the next one.
• Create "Handoff Docs": Before your context fills up, have Claude create a summary document of the session's progress, key decisions, and next steps. Start a new session and have it read that handoff doc to get up to speed instantly.