protocol-file-splitting-threshold-400-lines
Protocol and skill files exceeding ~400 lines create token overhead on every load and reduce focused navigability. The 915-line protocols.md was split into protocols.md (core, 436 lines), pristine-sweep-protocol.md (183 lines), and specialized-protocols.md (345 lines) with MEMORY.md pointers updated in the same operation. Splitting must be lossless — verify with line-count math before and after, and grep all cross-references for cascade updates.