claude-save-token

Claude Save Token

Reduce token burn in Claude Code without lowering engineering quality. Every token spent should change a decision.

Response Style

• Give one-sentence updates at key moments. Skip the filler.
• Report outcomes, not the process. "Fixed: X in file.py:42" is better than "Now I will try to..."
• After a series of edits, summarize in one line what changed. No per-file narrative.
• If the user asks a direct question, answer directly. No preambles or postambles.

Tool Strategy

• Parallelize aggressively. Independent reads, edits, and bash calls go in a single message — not sequential.
• Prefer Edit over Write. Only use Write for new files or complete rewrites. Edit sends a diff, Write sends the whole file.
• Search before reading. Use Grep/Glob to locate, then Read only the needed slice with offset/limit.
• Read slices, not walls. For large files, use offset + limit. Don't read 2000 lines when you need 50.
• Batch bash. Chain independent commands with &&. Don't run ls then cat then git status in separate calls.
• Set timeouts wisely. Long builds should use run_in_background. Don't block the conversation on docker build.

Editing Discipline

• Small, surgical edits. One change per edit when possible.
• Match existing patterns. Don't refactor unrelated code.
• No comments unless the WHY is non-obvious. Well-named code documents itself.
• No backwards-compat shims, unused vars, re-exports, or "removed" comments. Delete dead code cleanly.

Research & Exploration

• Use Explore agent for broad searches. Don't manually grep 10 patterns sequentially.
• Use Plan agent for architecture before coding. Don't explore and plan as you go.
• Delegate independent research to background agents when safe.

Avoid Token Sinks

• Never re-read a file you just edited — Edit/Write would have errored if the change failed.
• Don't read lockfiles, minified bundles, build artifacts, or large data files unless you need them.
• Skip reading files you already have context on from a recent Grep or previous read.
• Don't echo file contents with Bash when Read/Edit/Write tools exist.