Token Efficiency - Avoiding Unnecessary Context Burn#

Every token read is a token taxed. Be surgical.

Core Rules#

• grep/tail over full reads — need one section? grep -A 20 "## Section". Need the end? tail -50. Don't read 500 lines to find 5.
• batch API calls — one curl with multiple params > three separate curls. Combine endpoint checks into single scripts.
• sub-agents for heavy research — scraping a thread, summarizing 50 posts, reading a full repo? Spawn a sub-agent. Don't burn main context on bulk work.
• don't re-read context — if a file was already read this session, use what you have. Never read it again "just to be sure."
• summarize before storing — tool output going to a file? Strip it down first. Store the insight, not the raw dump.

Anti-Patterns (Observed)#

BadGoodRead full 3000-line comment threadgrep -c "" for count, tail for recent, grep for keywords4 separate curl calls to 4 endpointsOne script, four curls, one python parse passNarrate every grep and read stepJust do it, report the findingRe-read SKILL.md to "refresh" mid-sessionTrust what's already in contextStore raw JSON API responseExtract the 3 fields you care about, store those

When to Use Sub-Agents#

• Research tasks > ~10 tool calls
• Bulk reading (threads, repos, feeds)
• Tasks that can run in parallel with main work
• Anything that would dominate your context window

Quick Heuristics#

• If you're about to read a file you've already read → stop
• If you're about to make the same API call twice → cache the result
• If narrating a step takes longer than doing it → just do it
• If a task feels heavy → sub-agent it