Token Usage Audit

Save tokens by measuring the waste categories before optimizing them.

Waste Categories

Audit these in order:

1. startup-context weight;
2. shell and tool-output noise;
3. repeated file reads or re-analysis;
4. oversized handoffs and summaries;
5. stale skills, prompts, or always-loaded docs;
6. compaction loss and re-derivation cost.

Audit Workflow

1. Identify the current failure mode:
   • output overflow;
   • startup bloat;
   • long-session decay;
   • repeated repo rediscovery.
2. Estimate which category dominates.
3. Apply the narrowest corrective skill:
   • rtk-assisted-shell or shell-output-compaction;
   • graph-guided-code-reading;
   • token-efficient-execution;
   • lean-context-layout;
   • compaction-survival;
   • token-frugal-mode.
4. Re-check after the intervention:
   • fewer broad reads;
   • shorter command output;
   • smaller startup docs;
   • cleaner resume state.
5. Record what changed so the same waste is not rediscovered next session.

Practical Signals

• top-level agent file is large and generic;
• same README or module keeps getting reopened;
• shell output dominates the conversation;
• compaction causes “what were we doing?” recovery turns;
• too many installed skills are irrelevant to current work;
• long status updates cost more than the actual edit.

Deliverable

Report:

• biggest waste category;
• corrective skills used;
• what was changed;
• expected future savings.

Guardrails

• Do not chase precision that costs more tokens than it saves.
• Do not instrument everything if a clear dominant waste category is already visible.
• Optimize the highest recurring cost first, not the most novel one.