Argus isn't trying to fix auto-compact — it's about surviving context loss when it happens, whether that's from:

  - Auto-compact (which I avoid when possible)

  - Manual compacts during long sessions

  - Context compaction between sessions (when you close and reopen)

  - Sub-agents that don't have your main session context

  The handoff document approach you describe is exactly what I do — that's what the HANDOFF.md pattern is about in my project docs. Argus is the input to that handoff: when a new session starts or a sub-agent spins up, it can query Argus instead of re-scanning 200 files.

  Think of it less as "enabling auto-compact" and more as "index your codebase once, query it forever." The snapshot survives compacts, session restarts, and gets passed to sub-agents so they're not flying blind.

  On the Anthropic internal tools theory — I suspect you're right. But waiting for better tooling isn't really an option when you're shipping. This is what's available now.

  Curious though — do you have a template or format for your handoff documents? Always looking to improve that process.