rtk-optimized.md

RTK Token Optimization

Context: Using RTK (Rust Token Killer) to minimize token consumption from command outputs.

Commands to Optimize

Always use RTK wrapper for these high-verbosity commands:

Git Operations (92.3% avg reduction)

• rtk git log instead of git log
• rtk git status instead of git status
• rtk git diff instead of git diff

File Operations (69.4% avg reduction)

• rtk find "*.md" . instead of find . -name "*.md"
• rtk read <file> instead of cat <file> (for large files >10K lines)

DO NOT use RTK for:

• ls (worse output: -274% token increase)
• grep (buggy as of v0.2.0)

Token Savings Target

Baseline: ~150K tokens per 30-min session With RTK: ~45K tokens (70% reduction)

Installation

RTK is installed system-wide: /usr/local/bin/rtk

Verification

Check RTK availability:

rtk --version  # Should show: rtk 0.2.0

When NOT to use RTK

• Quick exploration (1-2 commands): overhead not worth it
• Already using tools like Grep/Read (Claude native tools are optimized)
• Small outputs (<100 chars): minimal gain

Automation

Use RTK automatically via hook (see .claude/hooks/bash/rtk-wrapper.sh)