Layer 1: Main Context — The Problem Skills Solve
~12 min read
Skills exist to fix a specific problem: LLMs forget everything unless instructions are restated each time. Layer 1, Main Context, is the always-loaded foundation everything else builds on.
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Key points
- •Claude Skills solve a specific problem: LLMs forget everything unless instructions/examples/edge cases are restated every time
- •Skills package reusable workflow information into small, self-contained units loaded only when relevant, keeping active context lightweight
- •Layer 1, Main Context, is always loaded and contains the project configuration — present in every interaction regardless of which skills activate later
- •Unlike Layers 2 and 3 (next subtopics), which load conditionally, Layer 1 is universal — relevant to every task, not just specialized workflows
- •This separation (universal vs. conditional) is the core architectural insight behind the whole 3-layer system: only pay context cost for conditional parts when they're actually needed