name: savethetokens description: Reduce Claude Code token burn with proactive compacting, task-scoped sessions, checkpoint files, tiered docs, and relevance-based context pruning. Use when a user explicitly asks to reduce context usage/cost, run token benchmarks, or optimize CLAUDE.md. Do not use to expand product scope or skip correctness checks.

Context Governor

Optimize context usage with practical, high-impact workflows and scripts.

Non-Negotiable Guardrails

1. Keep scope locked to the user request. Do not add extra features, pages, or telemetry unless asked.
2. Treat token optimization as a constraint, not the goal. Correctness and security win over token reduction.
3. Never claim token savings without before/after measurement on comparable tasks.
4. If context-saving actions risk quality loss, keep the extra context and state the tradeoff.
5. Never reduce code thoroughness to save tokens. Tests, strict config, safety checks, and error handling are non-negotiable. Save tokens from message verbosity — never from output completeness.

Operating Modes

• Lean Mode (default): Use lightweight context hygiene only; do not create new benchmark artifacts.
• Measurement Mode: Use launch-readiness or A/B telemetry scripts only when user asks for proof/percentages.

Claude Code Message Budget (required)

1. Keep progress updates short and phase-based. Do not narrate every file write.
2. Do not paste long command output unless user asks. Summarize only key signals.
3. Do not repeat the same command without a code/input change; if retried, state the reason once.
4. If /context shows message growth is unusually high, switch to stricter concise mode:
   • fewer updates
   • shorter summaries
   • batch related edits before reporting
5. Prefer one concise final summary over long running commentary.
6. For benchmark runs, enforce matched behavior on both variants:
   • same stop criteria
   • same compact policy
   • same output style (no extra giant report in one variant only)

Operating Playbook

1. Confirm objective and lock scope in one sentence.
2. Keep one chat session per task. Start a new session for unrelated work.
3. Use ! <command> for direct shell commands when no reasoning is required.
4. Run /context periodically. Compact around 50% usage instead of waiting for hard limits.
5. Before /compact or /clear, create a checkpoint file with next steps and touched files.
6. Keep top-level docs lean; move deep details to linked docs/*.md.
7. Before final output on code tasks, run the quality gates in docs/QUALITY_GATES.md.
8. For token-savings claims, run matched A/B using docs/BENCHMARK_PROTOCOL.md.
9. For Claude benchmark runs, use docs/STRICT_BENCHMARK_PROMPT.md as the session starter.

Quick Commands

# Generate execution plan
python ~/.claude/skills/savethetokens/scripts/govern.py --budget 8000

# Generate checkpoint before compact/clear
python ~/.claude/skills/savethetokens/scripts/session_checkpoint.py \
  --task "..." \
  --done "..." \
  --next "..." \
  --context-percent 52 \
  --message-count 36

# Create session hook (Claude Code)
python ~/.claude/skills/savethetokens/scripts/session_hook_generator.py --project .

# Optimize CLAUDE.md
python ~/.claude/skills/savethetokens/scripts/claude_md_optimizer.py --analyze

# Calculate cost savings
python ~/.claude/skills/savethetokens/scripts/cost_calculator.py --developers 5

# Run launch-readiness benchmark with section-wise savings
python ~/.claude/skills/savethetokens/scripts/launch_readiness.py

# Run live A/B telemetry session (auto split control/optimized)
python ~/.claude/skills/savethetokens/scripts/govern.py \
  --input context.json \
  --budget 8000 \
  --experiment-id claude-launch-v1 \
  --variant auto \
  --assignment-key TICKET-123

# Generate measured A/B report from live sessions
python ~/.claude/skills/savethetokens/scripts/ab_telemetry.py \
  --experiment-id claude-launch-v1 \
  --days 14 \
  --required-intents code_generation,debugging,planning,review \
  --min-samples-per-intent 5

# Strict mode: exit 2 if claim gates fail (CI-friendly)
python ~/.claude/skills/savethetokens/scripts/ab_telemetry.py \
  --experiment-id claude-launch-v1 \
  --strict-claim-mode

# Print report JSON to stdout (pipe to jq, etc.)
python ~/.claude/skills/savethetokens/scripts/ab_telemetry.py \
  --experiment-id claude-launch-v1 \
  --json-stdout

# Code-task quality gate checklist (required before final answer)
cat ~/.claude/skills/savethetokens/docs/QUALITY_GATES.md

# Compare two /context snapshots (control vs optimized)
python ~/.claude/skills/savethetokens/scripts/context_snapshot_diff.py \
  --before-file before.txt \
  --after-file after.txt \
  --strict

# Compact watchdog (advisory, safe defaults)
python ~/.claude/skills/savethetokens/scripts/compact_watchdog.py \
  --context-file context_snapshot.txt \
  --require-checkpoint

# Dynamic tool filtering (fail-open recommended)
python ~/.claude/skills/savethetokens/scripts/tool_filter.py \
  --input tools.json \
  --query "..." \
  --fail-open

# Semantic skill selection (recommendation only)
python ~/.claude/skills/savethetokens/scripts/skill_selector.py \
  --query "..."

# External memory store (bounded retrieval)
python ~/.claude/skills/savethetokens/scripts/memory_store.py search \
  --query "..." \
  --for-prompt \
  --top-k 5 \
  --max-chars 1200

# Print lean session prompt template
cat ~/.claude/skills/savethetokens/docs/LEAN_SESSION_PROMPT.md

# Print strict benchmark harness prompt
cat ~/.claude/skills/savethetokens/docs/STRICT_BENCHMARK_PROMPT.md

Scripts

| Script | Purpose | |--------|---------| | govern.py | Main entry - execution plans | | analyze.py | Context analysis | | prune.py | Prune to budget (max 40%) | | session_hook_generator.py | Session-start hooks | | session_checkpoint.py | Save compact-ready session checkpoints | | claude_md_optimizer.py | Optimize CLAUDE.md | | quick_ref_generator.py | Generate QUICK_REF.md | | tiered_context.py | 3-tier context classification | | relevance_scorer.py | Score context relevance | | cost_calculator.py | ROI tracking | | launch_readiness.py | Launch benchmark + section-wise savings report | | ab_telemetry.py | Live A/B telemetry report with confidence checks | | context_snapshot_diff.py | Detect token regressions from /context snapshots | | compact_watchdog.py | Safe advisory for /compact and /clear decisions | | tool_filter.py | Dynamic tool filtering with fail-open safeguards | | skill_selector.py | Semantic skill ranking with confidence gating | | memory_store.py | External memory store with bounded retrieval | | path_filter.py | Filter package dirs |

Quality Rules

• NEVER prune system prompts, errors, recent messages
• Max pruning: 40% (keeps quality)
• When uncertain → KEEP content
• Will exceed budget rather than harm quality
• Keep solution minimal and request-aligned; avoid speculative architecture
• Run relevant tests/checks for touched areas, or explicitly state what could not be run

Completeness Checklist (never skip under token pressure)

Token savings come from shorter messages and smarter context — never from cutting corners on output quality. Before finalizing any code task, verify:

1. Strict config — Enable strictest compiler/linter settings available (e.g. "strict": true in tsconfig). Zero any types, zero @ts-ignore, zero @ts-nocheck.
2. Tests for touched code — Every changed function/module has corresponding tests. Minimum: one happy path, one error path per public function.
3. Safety limits — Runtime code that loops, recurses, or processes unbounded input must have explicit guards (max iterations, call depth, step limits, timeouts).
4. Error handling with context — Errors include location info (file, line, span) and actionable messages. No bare catch(e) {} or except Exception: pass.
5. Input validation at boundaries — Validate user input, API responses, and file I/O. Internal code can trust internal types.
6. Security basics — No command injection, no unsanitized template interpolation, no hardcoded secrets. Parameterize queries.
7. Build passes — Run type-check/compile/build before declaring done. If it can't be run, state why.
8. State what was not verified — If any check above could not be performed (no test runner, no build script), explicitly list it in the final summary.

Where to save tokens instead: shorter progress updates, batch related edits, omit command output unless asked, compact at 50% context.

Detailed Docs (read on-demand)

• EXECUTION_PLANS.md - Plan structure
• PRUNING_STRATEGIES.md - Pruning logic
• MODEL_SELECTION.md - Model recommendations
• TOKEN_ESTIMATION.md - Token counting
• SESSION_PLAYBOOK.md - Practical compact/reset workflow
• QUALITY_GATES.md - Mandatory code-quality and claim-quality gates
• BENCHMARK_PROTOCOL.md - Matched A/B process for fair measurement
• LEAN_SESSION_PROMPT.md - Paste-ready strict token-discipline prompt
• STRICT_BENCHMARK_PROMPT.md - Paste-ready harness for fair Claude Code A/B testing
• ADVANCED_AUTOMATION.md - Optional advanced features with safety controls
• LAUNCH_READINESS.md - Measured launch benchmark report
• LIVE_TELEMETRY.md - Live control vs optimized experiment report