Inspect the input.
Find truncated descriptions, overlapping skills, and instructions written for older models.
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Astra Xray
Clear instructions.
Useful skills.
Inspect truncated descriptions, duplicates, and outdated instructions. Review what Astra receives, then back up and clean up only approved changes.
03 / CODEX · ASTRA
SKILL.md→references/
− Overlapping or outdated instructions
+ Keep the useful instructions complete
LUCIANLABS / ASTRA XRAYBuilt to be used. And shared.
HOW IT WORKS
How to use it.
Review the changes.
See what will change and why. Approved files are backed up to a ZIP before editing.
Compare the result.
Run the checks again and compare. Built-in skills, plugins, model settings, and approval settings stay unchanged.
IN DEPTH
In depth
Why skill descriptions get cut, and what changes after cleanup, with real results.
Why it matters
Codex gives the skill list only 2% of the context. With many skills installed, descriptions reach the model cut short, so it never reads the part that says when to use a skill. Overlapping skills and instructions written for older models make it worse.
The list math follows the Codex 0.154.0 source line by line and matched a real session log on 84 of 84 lines.
Real results
46 / 84skills on a Mac reaching the model cut short; afterwards all 64 remaining arrive in full
2,939 → 1,452characters across nine personal skill descriptions on Windows
~300 tokenslighter on every call
A month of those savings is about four dollars at Astra API prices. The point is not money but making the model read each description to the end. Where tokens really go (tool results and skill bodies) is what Codex Token Xray measures.
What it never touches
- Codex built-in skills and plugins (computer-use, sites and the like)
- Model, approval, sandbox and MCP settings
- Rules that protect production, secrets and deployment. Wording can be tightened; the rule stays.
- Popular skills made by other people
Scan results and backups live only under ~/.astra-xray. Every file is zipped before it changes, so you can undo at any time.
FAQ
Can I install it without Node.js?
Download the repository and copy skills/astra-xray into ~/.agents/skills/.
Where can I read more about why?
OpenAI’s article on Astra skills and prompts explains the background.
GET STARTEDTry it in
Try it in
your workflow.
After installing, type $astra-xray in Codex. Requires Python 3.9 or newer.