Token Optimization Guide

Practical settings and habits to reduce token consumption, extend session quality, and get more work done within daily limits.

See also: rules/common/performance.md for model selection strategy, skills/strategic-compact/ for automated compaction suggestions.

Recommended Settings

These are recommended defaults for most users. Power users can tune values further based on their workload — for example, setting MAX_THINKING_TOKENS lower for simple tasks or higher for complex architectural work.

Add to your ~/.claude/settings.json:

json

{
  "model": "sonnet",
  "env": {
    "MAX_THINKING_TOKENS": "10000",
    "CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_MODEL": "haiku"
  }
}

What each setting does

Setting	Default	Recommended	Effect
`model`	opus	sonnet	Sonnet handles ~80% of coding tasks well. Switch to Opus with `/model opus` for complex reasoning. ~60% cost reduction.
`MAX_THINKING_TOKENS`	31,999	10,000	Extended thinking reserves up to 31,999 output tokens per request for internal reasoning. Reducing this cuts hidden cost by ~70%. Set to `0` to disable for trivial tasks.
`CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_MODEL`	(inherits main)	haiku	Subagents (Task tool) run on this model. Haiku is ~80% cheaper and sufficient for exploration, file reading, and test running.

Community note on auto-compaction overrides

Some recent Claude Code builds have community reports that CLAUDE_AUTOCOMPACT_PCT_OVERRIDE can only lower the compaction threshold, which means values below the default may compact earlier instead of later. If that happens in your setup, remove the override and rely on manual /compact plus ECC's strategic-compact guidance. See Troubleshooting.

Toggling extended thinking

Alt+T (Windows/Linux) or Option+T (macOS) — toggle on/off
Ctrl+O — see thinking output (verbose mode)

Model Selection

Use the right model for the task:

Model	Best for	Cost
Haiku	Subagent exploration, file reading, simple lookups	Lowest
Sonnet	Day-to-day coding, reviews, test writing, implementation	Medium
Opus	Complex architecture, multi-step reasoning, debugging subtle issues	Highest

Switch models mid-session:

/model sonnet     # default for most work
/model opus       # complex reasoning
/model haiku      # quick lookups

Context Management

Commands

Command	When to use
`/clear`	Between unrelated tasks. Stale context wastes tokens on every subsequent message.
`/compact`	At logical task breakpoints (after planning, after debugging, before switching focus).
`/cost`	Check token spending for the current session.

Strategic compaction

The strategic-compact skill (in skills/strategic-compact/) suggests /compact at logical intervals rather than relying on auto-compaction, which can trigger mid-task. See the skill's README for hook setup instructions.

When to compact:

After exploration, before implementation
After completing a milestone
After debugging, before continuing with new work
Before a major context shift

When NOT to compact:

Mid-implementation of related changes
While debugging an active issue
During multi-file refactoring

Subagents protect your context

Use subagents (Task tool) for exploration instead of reading many files in your main session. The subagent reads 20 files but only returns a summary — your main context stays clean.

MCP Server Management

Each enabled MCP server adds tool definitions to your context window. The README warns: keep under 10 enabled per project.

Tips:

Run /mcp to see active servers and their context cost
Prefer CLI tools when available (gh instead of GitHub MCP, aws instead of AWS MCP)
Use disabledMcpServers in project config to disable servers per-project
The memory MCP server is configured by default but not used by any skill, agent, or hook — consider disabling it

Agent Teams Cost Warning

Agent Teams (experimental) spawns multiple independent context windows. Each teammate consumes tokens separately.

Only use for tasks where parallelism adds clear value (multi-module work, parallel reviews)
For simple sequential tasks, subagents (Task tool) are more token-efficient
Enable with: CLAUDE_CODE_EXPERIMENTAL_AGENT_TEAMS=1 in settings

Future: configure-ecc Integration

The configure-ecc install wizard could offer to set these environment variables during setup, with explanations of the cost tradeoffs. This would help new users optimize from day one rather than discovering these settings after hitting limits.

Quick Reference

bash

# Daily workflow
/model sonnet              # Start here
/model opus                # Only for complex reasoning
/clear                     # Between unrelated tasks
/compact                   # At logical breakpoints
/cost                      # Check spending

# Environment variables (add to ~/.claude/settings.json "env" block)
MAX_THINKING_TOKENS=10000
CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_MODEL=haiku
CLAUDE_CODE_EXPERIMENTAL_AGENT_TEAMS=1