Token Reducer
Cut Claude API costs by 90%+ with intelligent context compression
The open-source alternative to expensive context management tools.
The Problem
Every time you use Claude with a large codebase, you're paying for thousands of tokens that aren't relevant to your query. Most context management tools either:
- Send everything (expensive)
- Truncate blindly (loses important context)
- Require heavy Language Servers (slow, resource-intensive)
The Solution
Token Reducer is a local-first, intelligent context compression pipeline that:
- Reduces tokens by 90-98% while preserving semantic relevance
- Runs entirely locally — no API calls, no data leaving your machine
- Works in milliseconds — faster than Language Server alternatives
- Understands code semantically — AST parsing, not just text matching
┌─────────────────┐ ┌───────────────┐ ┌──────────────────┐
│ Your Codebase │────▶│ Token Reducer │────▶│ Compressed │
│ (50,000 tokens)│ │ Pipeline │ │ Context (500t) │
└─────────────────┘ └───────────────┘ └──────────────────┘
│
┌─────────┴─────────┐
│ - AST Chunking │
│ - BM25 + Vector │
│ - TextRank │
│ - Import Graph │
│ - 2-Hop Symbols │
└───────────────────┘
Easy Install
Option 1 — Claude Code /plugin Command (Recommended)
Step 1: Register the marketplace (one-time setup):
/plugin marketplace add Madhan230205/token-reducer
This registers the marketplace as Madhan230205-token-reducer.
Step 2: Install:
/plugin install token-reducer@Madhan230205-token-reducer
For project-scoped install:
/plugin install token-reducer@Madhan230205-token-reducer --scope project
Already ran Step 1 before? Just run
/plugin install token-reducer@Madhan230205-token-reducer— no need to add the marketplace again.
Option 2 — Git Clone (Manual)
# 1. Clone into your Claude plugins folder
git clone https://github.com/Madhan230205/token-reducer.git ~/.claude/plugins/token-reducer
# 2. Install dependencies (optional but recommended for best results)
pip install -r ~/.claude/plugins/token-reducer/requirements-optional.txt
Windows users: Replace
~/.claude/plugins/with%USERPROFILE%\.claude\plugins\
Then open ~/.claude/settings.json and add:
{
"plugins": ["~/.claude/plugins/token-reducer"]
}
Restart Claude Code. Done.
What requirements-optional.txt installs:
| Package | Purpose |
|---|---|
sentence-transformers |
Neural embeddings for smarter retrieval |
hnswlib / faiss-cpu |
Fast approximate nearest-neighbor search |
tree-sitter + language grammars |
AST-based code chunking (Python, JS, TS, Go, Rust, Java, C/C++, Ruby) |
If you skip this step, Token Reducer still works using hash embeddings and regex chunking — no ML libraries required.
Option 3 — Zero-Dependency Quick Start
No pip, no ML libs — runs immediately after cloning:
git clone https://github.com/Madhan230205/token-reducer.git
cd token-reducer
python scripts/context_pipeline.py run \
--inputs ./src \
--query "Find auth logic" \
--embedding-backend hash \
--db .cache/index.db
Features
Core Pipeline
- Hybrid Retrieval — BM25 + semantic vector search with intelligent fallback
- AST-Based Chunking — Tree-sitter parsing for Python, TypeScript, Go, Rust, Java, and more
- TextRank Compression — Graph-based sentence scoring for intelligent summarization
- Sub-100ms Queries — SQLite FTS5 + HNSW indexes for instant results
- Local-First — Everything runs on your machine, no external APIs
LSP-Killer Features
- Import Graph — Automatically maps file dependencies without Language Server
- 2-Hop Symbol Expansion — Auto "go-to-definition" for referenced functions
- Diff Protocol — SEARCH/REPLACE edit format with automatic application
- Semantic Clustering — Groups similar chunks to avoid redundancy
Enterprise Ready
- Fully Configurable — 40+ tunable parameters in
settings.json - Embedding Flexibility — ML models or hash fallback (zero dependencies)
- Query Caching — Intelligent TTL-based caching for repeated queries
- Session Memory — Tracks context across conversation turns
Documentation
How It Works
Query → FTS(BM25) → (Vector fallback if needed) → Merge → Top 5 → Compress
Full pipeline:
PREPROCESS → INDEX → RETRIEVE → RE-RANK → COMPRESS → CONTEXT PACKET
Basic Usage
# Index your codebase
python scripts/context_pipeline.py index --inputs ./src --db .cache/index.db
# Query with compression
python scripts/context_pipeline.py query \
--query "How does authentication work?" \
--db .cache/index.db \
--json
# One-shot: index + query
python scripts/context_pipeline.py run \
--inputs ./src \
--query "Find the database connection logic" \
--db .cache/index.db
Configuration
All settings in settings.json:
{
"tokenReducer": {
"chunkSizeWords": 220,
"embeddingModel": "jinaai/jina-embeddings-v2-base-code",
"hybridMode": "fallback",
"astChunkingEnabled": true,
"textRankEnabled": true,
"lspFeatures": {
"importGraphEnabled": true,
"twoHopExpansionEnabled": true
}
}
}
Full Configuration Reference
| Setting | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
chunkSizeWords |
220 | Target words per chunk |
embeddingBackend |
"ml" | "ml" for neural, "hash" for zero-dep |
embeddingModel |
jina-v2-code | Code-optimized embeddings |
hybridMode |
"fallback" | "fallback" or "always" for vector |
astChunkingEnabled |
true | Use tree-sitter AST parsing |
textRankEnabled |
true | Graph-based sentence scoring |
importGraphEnabled |
true | Track file dependencies |
twoHopExpansionEnabled |
true | Auto-expand referenced symbols |
compressionWordBudget |
350 | Max words in compressed output |
Zero-Dependency Mode
Run without any ML libraries:
python scripts/context_pipeline.py run \
--inputs ./src \
--query "Find auth logic" \
--embedding-backend hash \
--db .cache/index.db
Apply Code Edits
python scripts/apply_diff.py --input claude_response.txt --dir ./src
python scripts/apply_diff.py --input response.txt --dry-run
Architecture
Technology Stack
- Storage: SQLite with FTS5 + custom embeddings table
- Chunking: Tree-sitter AST parsing with regex fallback
- Embeddings: Jina Code v2 (or zero-dependency hash embeddings)
- ANN Search: HNSW via hnswlib (with FAISS fallback)
- Compression: TextRank + query-relevance scoring
Repository Structure
token-reducer/
├── .claude-plugin/plugin.json
├── .mcp.json
├── .env.example
├── settings.json
├── requirements-optional.txt
├── scripts/
├── hooks/
├── commands/
├── agents/
├── skills/
└── evals/
Contributing
If anyone is interested in contributing, this project is open to contributions. Please see contribute.md for contribution guidelines.
git clone https://github.com/Madhan230205/token-reducer.git
cd token-reducer
pip install -e ".[dev]"
python scripts/context_pipeline.py self-test
License
MIT License — see LICENSE for details.
Acknowledgments
- Tree-sitter for AST parsing
- Sentence Transformers for embeddings
- SQLite FTS5 for blazing-fast text search
- hnswlib for approximate nearest neighbors
Star this repo if Token Reducer saves you money!
Metadata
Release files for claude-token-reducer 1.4.0
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| claude_token_reducer-1.4.0-py3-none-any.whl | Python 3 | none | any | Details |
Total release size: 91.0 kB
Release files / claude_token_reducer-1.4.0.tar.gz
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