gcf-python

Python implementation of GCF — the most token-efficient wire format for LLMs. A drop-in alternative to JSON and TOON for any structured data.

100% comprehension on every frontier model tested. 29% fewer tokens than TOON, 56% fewer than JSON across 16 datasets. 91.2% on structurally complex code graphs (vs TOON 68.2%, JSON 53.4%). 2,400+ LLM evaluations. Zero training.

Docs: gcformat.com · Playground · GCF vs TOON

Install

pip install gcf-python

Zero dependencies. Pure Python. Python 3.9+. Includes CLI. Don't want to change code? Use the MCP proxy for zero-code adoption.

CLI

gcf encode < payload.json    # JSON to GCF
gcf decode < payload.gcf     # GCF to JSON
gcf stats  < payload.json    # token comparison with visual bar

Payload: 50 symbols, 20 edges

  JSON  ██████████████████████████████  4,200 tokens
  GCF   ████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░  1,150 tokens

  Savings: 73% fewer tokens with GCF

Library

Quick Start

from gcf import encode_generic

output = encode_generic({
    "employees": [
        {"id": 1, "name": "Alice", "department": "Engineering", "salary": 95000},
        {"id": 2, "name": "Bob", "department": "Sales", "salary": 72000},
    ],
})

Output:

## employees [2]{id,name,department,salary}
1|Alice|Engineering|95000
2|Bob|Sales|72000

Decode

from gcf import decode

p = decode(input_text)
print(p.tool, len(p.symbols), "symbols", len(p.edges), "edges")

Session Deduplication

Track transmitted symbols across multiple tool responses. Previously-sent symbols become bare references instead of full declarations:

from gcf import encode_with_session, Session, Payload, Symbol

sess = Session()

out1 = encode_with_session(payload1, sess)  # full declarations
out2 = encode_with_session(payload2, sess)  # reused symbols as "@N  # previously transmitted"

By the 5th call in a session: 92.7% token savings vs JSON.

Streaming Encode

Write GCF output incrementally as symbols and edges arrive. Zero buffering, O(1) memory per row:

from gcf import StreamEncoder, Symbol, Edge

enc = StreamEncoder(sys.stdout, "context_for_task", token_budget=5000)

enc.write_symbol(Symbol(qualified_name="pkg.Auth", kind="function", score=0.95, provenance="lsp", distance=0))
enc.write_symbol(Symbol(qualified_name="pkg.Server", kind="function", score=0.60, provenance="lsp", distance=1))
enc.write_edge(Edge(source="pkg.Server", target="pkg.Auth", edge_type="calls"))
enc.close()  # emits ## _summary trailer

Output:

GCF tool=context_for_task budget=5000
## targets
@0 fn pkg.Auth 0.95 lsp
## related
@1 fn pkg.Server 0.60 lsp
## edges [?]
@0<@1 calls
## _summary symbols=2 edges=1 sections=targets:1,related:1,edges:1

The writer is any object with a write(s: str) method. Thread-safe. Standard decode() handles streaming output with no changes.

Delta Encoding

When the consumer already has a prior context pack, send only what changed:

from gcf import encode_delta, DeltaPayload, Symbol, Edge

delta = DeltaPayload(
    tool="context_for_task",
    base_root="aaa111",
    new_root="bbb222",
    removed=[Symbol(qualified_name="pkg.OldFunc", kind="function")],
    added=[Symbol(qualified_name="pkg.NewFunc", kind="function", score=0.85, provenance="rwr")],
    delta_tokens=30,
    full_tokens=200,
)

output = encode_delta(delta)

81.2% savings on re-queries where the pack changed slightly.

Generic Encoding

Encode any Python value (not just graph payloads) into GCF tabular format:

from gcf import encode_generic

output = encode_generic({
    "employees": [
        {"id": 1, "name": "Alice", "department": "Engineering", "salary": 95000},
        {"id": 2, "name": "Bob", "department": "Sales", "salary": 72000},
    ],
})

Output:

## employees [2]{id,name,department,salary}
1|Alice|Engineering|95000
2|Bob|Sales|72000

Works on dicts, lists, and primitives. Lists of uniform dicts get tabular rows. Nested dicts use ## key section headers.

API

Types

Benchmarks

2,400+ LLM evaluations across 10 models, 3 providers, and 51 independent test runs.

GCF wins 15/16 datasets on the expanded token efficiency benchmark. Full results: gcformat.com/guide/benchmarks

Implementations

Zero runtime dependencies. Permanently. All six implementations depend only on their language's standard library. No transitive dependencies. No supply chain risk. This is a permanent commitment: GCF will never take on external runtime dependencies. MIT licensed. All implementations support both generic profile (encodeGeneric) and graph profile (encode). CLI included in all 6 languages.

Specification: SPEC v3.2 Stable with 173 conformance fixtures, 43,000,000,000+ lossless round-trips verified across 5 formats and 6 languages. All implementations at v2.2.0+ (Go v1.3.0). Cross-language 6x6 matrix verified.

License

MIT - Dayna Blackwell