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RTK Tracking API Documentation

docs/usage/TRACKING.md

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RTK Tracking API Documentation

Comprehensive documentation for RTK's tracking system, which records how much bash output each filtered command removed.

Everything the tracker stores is measured on bash output bytes, converted to estimated tokens. Bash output is one contributor to input tokens, alongside your prompt, the system prompt and conversation history, and input tokens are in turn only part of the bill, which also counts output tokens. savings_pct is therefore a bash output byte ratio — not a cost figure and not a share of your token bill.

See How RTK Savings Work for the full breakdown.

Table of Contents

Overview

RTK's tracking system records every command execution to provide analytics on bash output reduction. The system:

  • Stores command history in SQLite (~/.local/share/rtk/tracking.db)
  • Tracks estimated input/output tokens, bash output reduction percentage, and execution time
  • Automatically cleans up records older than 90 days
  • Provides aggregation APIs (daily/weekly/monthly)
  • Exports to JSON/CSV for external integrations

Architecture

Data Flow

rtk command execution
  ↓
TimedExecution::start()
  ↓
[command runs]
  ↓
TimedExecution::track(original_cmd, rtk_cmd, input, output)
  ↓
Tracker::record(original_cmd, rtk_cmd, input_tokens, output_tokens, exec_time_ms)
  ↓
SQLite database (~/.local/share/rtk/tracking.db)
  ↓
Aggregation APIs (get_summary, get_all_days, etc.)
  ↓
CLI output (rtk gain) or JSON/CSV export

Storage Location

  • Linux: ~/.local/share/rtk/tracking.db
  • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/rtk/tracking.db
  • Windows: %APPDATA%\rtk\tracking.db

Data Retention

Records older than 90 days are automatically deleted on each write operation to prevent unbounded database growth.

Public API

Core Types

Tracker

Main tracking interface for recording and querying command history.

rust
pub struct Tracker {
    conn: Connection, // SQLite connection
}

impl Tracker {
    /// Create new tracker instance (opens/creates database)
    pub fn new() -> Result<Self>;

    /// Record a command execution
    pub fn record(
        &self,
        original_cmd: &str,      // Standard command (e.g., "ls -la")
        rtk_cmd: &str,            // RTK command (e.g., "rtk ls")
        input_tokens: usize,      // Estimated tokens from raw output (bytes / 4)
        output_tokens: usize,     // Estimated tokens after filtering (bytes / 4)
        exec_time_ms: u64,        // Execution time in milliseconds
    ) -> Result<()>;

    /// Get overall summary statistics
    pub fn get_summary(&self) -> Result<GainSummary>;

    /// Get daily statistics (all days)
    pub fn get_all_days(&self) -> Result<Vec<DayStats>>;

    /// Get weekly statistics (grouped by week)
    pub fn get_by_week(&self) -> Result<Vec<WeekStats>>;

    /// Get monthly statistics (grouped by month)
    pub fn get_by_month(&self) -> Result<Vec<MonthStats>>;

    /// Get recent command history (limit = max records)
    pub fn get_recent(&self, limit: usize) -> Result<Vec<CommandRecord>>;
}

GainSummary

Aggregated statistics across all recorded commands.

rust
pub struct GainSummary {
    pub total_commands: usize,              // Total commands recorded
    pub total_input: usize,                 // Total input tokens
    pub total_output: usize,                // Total output tokens
    pub total_saved: usize,                 // Total estimated tokens saved
    pub avg_savings_pct: f64,               // Average bash output reduction, in percent
    pub total_time_ms: u64,                 // Total execution time (ms)
    pub avg_time_ms: u64,                   // Average execution time (ms)
    pub by_command: Vec<(String, usize, usize, f64, u64)>, // Top 10 commands
    pub by_day: Vec<(String, usize)>,       // Last 30 days
}

DayStats

Daily statistics (Serializable for JSON export).

rust
#[derive(Debug, Serialize)]
pub struct DayStats {
    pub date: String,            // ISO date (YYYY-MM-DD)
    pub commands: usize,         // Commands executed this day
    pub input_tokens: usize,     // Total input tokens
    pub output_tokens: usize,    // Total output tokens
    pub saved_tokens: usize,     // Total tokens saved
    pub savings_pct: f64,        // Bash output reduction, in percent
    pub total_time_ms: u64,      // Total execution time (ms)
    pub avg_time_ms: u64,        // Average execution time (ms)
}

WeekStats

Weekly statistics (Serializable for JSON export).

rust
#[derive(Debug, Serialize)]
pub struct WeekStats {
    pub week_start: String,      // ISO date (YYYY-MM-DD)
    pub week_end: String,        // ISO date (YYYY-MM-DD)
    pub commands: usize,
    pub input_tokens: usize,
    pub output_tokens: usize,
    pub saved_tokens: usize,
    pub savings_pct: f64,
    pub total_time_ms: u64,
    pub avg_time_ms: u64,
}

MonthStats

Monthly statistics (Serializable for JSON export).

rust
#[derive(Debug, Serialize)]
pub struct MonthStats {
    pub month: String,           // YYYY-MM format
    pub commands: usize,
    pub input_tokens: usize,
    pub output_tokens: usize,
    pub saved_tokens: usize,
    pub savings_pct: f64,
    pub total_time_ms: u64,
    pub avg_time_ms: u64,
}

CommandRecord

Individual command record from history.

rust
pub struct CommandRecord {
    pub timestamp: DateTime<Utc>, // UTC timestamp
    pub rtk_cmd: String,           // RTK command used
    pub saved_tokens: usize,       // Estimated tokens saved
    pub savings_pct: f64,          // Bash output reduction, in percent
}

TimedExecution

Helper for timing command execution (preferred API).

rust
pub struct TimedExecution {
    start: Instant,
}

impl TimedExecution {
    /// Start timing a command execution
    pub fn start() -> Self;

    /// Track command with elapsed time
    pub fn track(&self, original_cmd: &str, rtk_cmd: &str, input: &str, output: &str);

    /// Track passthrough commands (timing-only, no token counting)
    pub fn track_passthrough(&self, original_cmd: &str, rtk_cmd: &str);
}

Utility Functions

rtk gain estimates tokens as bytes / 4 (src/core/tracking.rs:1284). RTK ships no real tokenizer by design: embedding one would cost startup time and would require a tokenizer per model, or a per-session model lookup, which RTK does not implement. The same estimator is applied to raw and filtered output, so the percentage is reliable; the absolute token counts are approximate and will not match your provider's billing.

rust
/// Estimate token count (~4 chars = 1 token)
pub fn estimate_tokens(text: &str) -> usize;

/// Format OsString args for display
pub fn args_display(args: &[OsString]) -> String;

/// Legacy tracking function (deprecated, use TimedExecution)
#[deprecated(note = "Use TimedExecution instead")]
pub fn track(original_cmd: &str, rtk_cmd: &str, input: &str, output: &str);

Usage Examples

Basic Tracking

rust
use rtk::tracking::{TimedExecution, Tracker};

fn main() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
    // Start timer
    let timer = TimedExecution::start();

    // Execute command
    let input = execute_original_command()?;
    let output = execute_rtk_command()?;

    // Track execution
    timer.track("ls -la", "rtk ls", &input, &output);

    Ok(())
}

Querying Statistics

rust
use rtk::tracking::Tracker;

fn main() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
    let tracker = Tracker::new()?;

    // Get overall summary
    let summary = tracker.get_summary()?;
    println!("Total commands: {}", summary.total_commands);
    println!("Total saved: {} tokens", summary.total_saved);
    println!("Average savings: {:.1}%", summary.avg_savings_pct);

    // Get daily breakdown
    let days = tracker.get_all_days()?;
    for day in days.iter().take(7) {
        println!("{}: {} commands, {} tokens saved",
            day.date, day.commands, day.saved_tokens);
    }

    // Get recent history
    let recent = tracker.get_recent(10)?;
    for cmd in recent {
        println!("{}: {} saved {:.1}%",
            cmd.timestamp, cmd.rtk_cmd, cmd.savings_pct);
    }

    Ok(())
}

Passthrough Commands

For commands that stream output or run interactively (no output capture):

rust
use rtk::tracking::TimedExecution;

fn main() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
    let timer = TimedExecution::start();

    // Execute streaming command (e.g., git tag --list)
    execute_streaming_command()?;

    // Track timing only (input_tokens=0, output_tokens=0)
    timer.track_passthrough("git tag --list", "rtk git tag --list");

    Ok(())
}

Data Formats

JSON Export Schema

DayStats JSON

json
{
  "date": "2026-02-03",
  "commands": 42,
  "input_tokens": 15420,
  "output_tokens": 3842,
  "saved_tokens": 11578,
  "savings_pct": 75.08,
  "total_time_ms": 8450,
  "avg_time_ms": 201
}

WeekStats JSON

json
{
  "week_start": "2026-01-27",
  "week_end": "2026-02-02",
  "commands": 284,
  "input_tokens": 98234,
  "output_tokens": 19847,
  "saved_tokens": 78387,
  "savings_pct": 79.80,
  "total_time_ms": 56780,
  "avg_time_ms": 200
}

MonthStats JSON

json
{
  "month": "2026-02",
  "commands": 1247,
  "input_tokens": 456789,
  "output_tokens": 91358,
  "saved_tokens": 365431,
  "savings_pct": 80.00,
  "total_time_ms": 249560,
  "avg_time_ms": 200
}

CSV Export Schema

csv
date,commands,input_tokens,output_tokens,saved_tokens,savings_pct,total_time_ms,avg_time_ms
2026-02-03,42,15420,3842,11578,75.08,8450,201
2026-02-02,38,14230,3557,10673,75.00,7600,200
2026-02-01,45,16890,4223,12667,75.00,9000,200

Integration Examples

GitHub Actions - Track Savings in CI

yaml
# .github/workflows/track-rtk-savings.yml
name: Track RTK Savings

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 0 * * 1'  # Weekly on Monday
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  track-savings:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Install RTK
        run: cargo install --git https://github.com/rtk-ai/rtk --branch master

      - name: Export weekly stats
        run: |
          rtk gain --weekly --format json > rtk-weekly.json
          cat rtk-weekly.json

      - name: Upload artifact
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
        with:
          name: rtk-metrics
          path: rtk-weekly.json

      - name: Post to Slack
        if: success()
        env:
          SLACK_WEBHOOK: ${{ secrets.SLACK_WEBHOOK }}
        run: |
          SAVINGS=$(jq -r '.[0].saved_tokens' rtk-weekly.json)
          PCT=$(jq -r '.[0].savings_pct' rtk-weekly.json)
          curl -X POST -H 'Content-type: application/json' \
            --data "{\"text\":\"📊 RTK Weekly: ${SAVINGS} tokens saved (${PCT}%)\"}" \
            $SLACK_WEBHOOK

Custom Dashboard Script

python
#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""
Export RTK metrics to Grafana/Datadog/etc.
"""
import json
import subprocess
from datetime import datetime

def get_rtk_metrics():
    """Fetch RTK metrics as JSON."""
    result = subprocess.run(
        ["rtk", "gain", "--all", "--format", "json"],
        capture_output=True,
        text=True
    )
    return json.loads(result.stdout)

def export_to_datadog(metrics):
    """Send metrics to Datadog."""
    import datadog

    datadog.initialize(api_key="YOUR_API_KEY")

    for day in metrics.get("daily", []):
        datadog.api.Metric.send(
            metric="rtk.tokens_saved",
            points=[(datetime.now().timestamp(), day["saved_tokens"])],
            tags=[f"date:{day['date']}"]
        )

        datadog.api.Metric.send(
            metric="rtk.savings_pct",
            points=[(datetime.now().timestamp(), day["savings_pct"])],
            tags=[f"date:{day['date']}"]
        )

if __name__ == "__main__":
    metrics = get_rtk_metrics()
    export_to_datadog(metrics)
    print(f"Exported {len(metrics.get('daily', []))} days to Datadog")

Rust Integration (Using RTK as Library)

rust
// In your Cargo.toml
// [dependencies]
// rtk = { git = "https://github.com/rtk-ai/rtk" }

use rtk::tracking::{Tracker, TimedExecution};
use anyhow::Result;

fn main() -> Result<()> {
    // Track your own commands
    let timer = TimedExecution::start();

    let input = run_expensive_operation()?;
    let output = run_optimized_operation()?;

    timer.track(
        "expensive_operation",
        "optimized_operation",
        &input,
        &output
    );

    // Query aggregated stats
    let tracker = Tracker::new()?;
    let summary = tracker.get_summary()?;

    println!("Total savings: {} tokens ({:.1}%)",
        summary.total_saved,
        summary.avg_savings_pct
    );

    // Export to JSON for external tools
    let days = tracker.get_all_days()?;
    let json = serde_json::to_string_pretty(&days)?;
    std::fs::write("metrics.json", json)?;

    Ok(())
}

Database Schema

Table: commands

sql
CREATE TABLE commands (
    id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
    timestamp TEXT NOT NULL,           -- RFC3339 UTC timestamp
    original_cmd TEXT NOT NULL,        -- Original command (e.g., "ls -la")
    rtk_cmd TEXT NOT NULL,             -- RTK command (e.g., "rtk ls")
    input_tokens INTEGER NOT NULL,     -- Estimated tokens from raw output (bytes / 4)
    output_tokens INTEGER NOT NULL,    -- Estimated tokens after filtering (bytes / 4)
    saved_tokens INTEGER NOT NULL,     -- input_tokens - output_tokens
    savings_pct REAL NOT NULL,         -- (saved/input) * 100, a bash output byte ratio
    exec_time_ms INTEGER DEFAULT 0     -- Execution time in milliseconds
);

CREATE INDEX idx_timestamp ON commands(timestamp);

Automatic Cleanup

On every write operation (Tracker::record), records older than 90 days are deleted:

rust
fn cleanup_old(&self) -> Result<()> {
    let cutoff = Utc::now() - chrono::Duration::days(90);
    self.conn.execute(
        "DELETE FROM commands WHERE timestamp < ?1",
        params![cutoff.to_rfc3339()],
    )?;
    Ok(())
}

Migration Support

The system automatically adds new columns if they don't exist (e.g., exec_time_ms was added later):

rust
// Safe migration on Tracker::new()
let _ = conn.execute(
    "ALTER TABLE commands ADD COLUMN exec_time_ms INTEGER DEFAULT 0",
    [],
);

Performance Considerations

  • SQLite WAL mode: Not enabled (may add in future for concurrent writes)
  • Index on timestamp: Enables fast date-range queries
  • Automatic cleanup: Prevents database from growing unbounded
  • Token estimation: ~4 chars = 1 token (simple, fast approximation)
  • Aggregation queries: Use SQL GROUP BY for efficient aggregation

Security & Privacy

  • Local storage only: Tracking database never leaves the machine
  • Telemetry requires consent: RTK can send a daily anonymous usage ping (version, OS, command counts, token savings). Disabled by default, requires explicit consent via rtk init or rtk telemetry enable. Manage with rtk telemetry status/disable/forget. Override: RTK_TELEMETRY_DISABLED=1
  • User control: Users can delete ~/.local/share/rtk/tracking.db anytime
  • 90-day retention: Old data automatically purged

Troubleshooting

Database locked error

If you see "database is locked" errors:

  • Ensure only one RTK process writes at a time
  • Check file permissions on ~/.local/share/rtk/tracking.db
  • Delete and recreate: rm ~/.local/share/rtk/tracking.db && rtk gain

Missing exec_time_ms column

Older databases may not have the exec_time_ms column. RTK automatically migrates on first use, but you can force it:

bash
sqlite3 ~/.local/share/rtk/tracking.db \
  "ALTER TABLE commands ADD COLUMN exec_time_ms INTEGER DEFAULT 0"

Incorrect token counts

Token estimation uses ~4 chars = 1 token. This is approximate. For precise counts, integrate with your LLM's tokenizer API.

Future Enhancements

Planned improvements (contributions welcome):

  • Export to Prometheus/OpenMetrics format
  • Support for custom retention periods (not just 90 days)
  • SQLite WAL mode for concurrent writes
  • Per-project tracking (multiple databases)
  • Integration with Claude API for precise token counts
  • Web dashboard (localhost) for visualizing trends

See Also