RTK — compact shell output

Package scope and prerequisites

This catalog ships instructions, not the executable runtime. Python modules, scripts, local services and optional tools named below must be installed separately from the upstream project. Check their availability before running commands; if they are missing, explain the prerequisite instead of claiming execution or results. The host agent may use model tokens while following these instructions.

A terminal wrapper that compacts command output to cut token usage.

Purpose

Prefix a command with the wrapper; if it has a dedicated filter the output is compacted, otherwise it passes through unchanged. Categories with the largest savings are tests, builds, package managers, containers and git.

rtk <command>            # filtered output
rtk gain                 # savings statistics
rtk discover             # find missed usages in past sessions
rtk proxy <command>      # run WITHOUT filtering (debugging)
rtk --version

Provenance and boundaries

• Upstream is an external project; this repository pins and reviews a specific stable version. Check the local version and keep it current — the tool ships fixes frequently, including Windows shell detection and exit-code visibility.
• Filtering can hide detail. Use proxy mode whenever the compacted view is not enough to understand a failure.
• Known local limitation on Windows: some builtins are not wrapped, so reading a file directly through it fails; use proxy mode for those.

The full command table belongs to the separately installed RTK CLI and is not bundled here. Inspect that version's help and upstream documentation before using commands outside this summary.

When NOT to use

• You want model input compressed rather than shell output — use universal_compressor.
• You want the per-turn compression decision — use token_shaper.