https://github.com/rtk-ai/rtk
CLI proxy that reduces LLM token consumption by 60-90% on common dev commands. Single Rust binary, zero dependencies
https://github.com/rtk-ai/rtk
agentic-coding ai-coding anthropic claude-code cli command-line-tool cost-reduction developer-tools llm open-source productivity rust token-optimization
Last synced: 3 days ago
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CLI proxy that reduces LLM token consumption by 60-90% on common dev commands. Single Rust binary, zero dependencies
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/rtk-ai/rtk
- Owner: rtk-ai
- License: mit
- Created: 2026-01-22T16:54:16.000Z (about 2 months ago)
- Default Branch: master
- Last Pushed: 2026-03-06T14:22:19.000Z (6 days ago)
- Last Synced: 2026-03-06T15:49:29.789Z (6 days ago)
- Topics: agentic-coding, ai-coding, anthropic, claude-code, cli, command-line-tool, cost-reduction, developer-tools, llm, open-source, productivity, rust, token-optimization
- Language: Rust
- Homepage: https://www.rtk-ai.app
- Size: 1.03 MB
- Stars: 3,611
- Watchers: 10
- Forks: 205
- Open Issues: 134
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
- Changelog: CHANGELOG.md
- Contributing: CONTRIBUTING.md
- License: LICENSE
- Security: SECURITY.md
- Roadmap: ROADMAP.md
Awesome Lists containing this project
- awesome-AI-driven-development - rtk - Rust Token Killer - CLI proxy that reduces LLM token consumption by 60-90% on common dev commands. Single Rust binary, zero dependencies (Frameworks & Libraries / Copilot Extensions & Alternatives)
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High-performance CLI proxy that reduces LLM token consumption by 60-90%
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---
rtk filters and compresses command outputs before they reach your LLM context. Single Rust binary, zero dependencies, <10ms overhead.
## Token Savings (30-min Claude Code Session)
| Operation | Frequency | Standard | rtk | Savings |
|-----------|-----------|----------|-----|---------|
| `ls` / `tree` | 10x | 2,000 | 400 | -80% |
| `cat` / `read` | 20x | 40,000 | 12,000 | -70% |
| `grep` / `rg` | 8x | 16,000 | 3,200 | -80% |
| `git status` | 10x | 3,000 | 600 | -80% |
| `git diff` | 5x | 10,000 | 2,500 | -75% |
| `git log` | 5x | 2,500 | 500 | -80% |
| `git add/commit/push` | 8x | 1,600 | 120 | -92% |
| `cargo test` / `npm test` | 5x | 25,000 | 2,500 | -90% |
| `ruff check` | 3x | 3,000 | 600 | -80% |
| `pytest` | 4x | 8,000 | 800 | -90% |
| `go test` | 3x | 6,000 | 600 | -90% |
| `docker ps` | 3x | 900 | 180 | -80% |
| **Total** | | **~118,000** | **~23,900** | **-80%** |
> Estimates based on medium-sized TypeScript/Rust projects. Actual savings vary by project size.
## Installation
### Homebrew (recommended)
```bash
brew install rtk
```
### Quick Install (Linux/macOS)
```bash
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rtk-ai/rtk/refs/heads/master/install.sh | sh
```
> Installs to `~/.local/bin`. Add to PATH if needed:
> ```bash
> echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc # or ~/.zshrc
> ```
### Cargo
```bash
cargo install --git https://github.com/rtk-ai/rtk
```
### Pre-built Binaries
Download from [releases](https://github.com/rtk-ai/rtk/releases):
- macOS: `rtk-x86_64-apple-darwin.tar.gz` / `rtk-aarch64-apple-darwin.tar.gz`
- Linux: `rtk-x86_64-unknown-linux-musl.tar.gz` / `rtk-aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz`
- Windows: `rtk-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc.zip`
### Verify Installation
```bash
rtk --version # Should show "rtk 0.27.2"
rtk gain # Should show token savings stats
```
> **Name collision warning**: Another project named "rtk" (Rust Type Kit) exists on crates.io. If `rtk gain` fails, you have the wrong package. Use `cargo install --git` above instead.
## Quick Start
```bash
# 1. Install hook for Claude Code (recommended)
rtk init --global
# Follow instructions to register in ~/.claude/settings.json
# 2. Restart Claude Code, then test
git status # Automatically rewritten to rtk git status
```
The hook transparently rewrites commands (e.g., `git status` -> `rtk git status`) before execution. Claude never sees the rewrite, it just gets compressed output.
## How It Works
```
Without rtk: With rtk:
Claude --git status--> shell --> git Claude --git status--> RTK --> git
^ | ^ | |
| ~2,000 tokens (raw) | | ~200 tokens | filter |
+-----------------------------------+ +------- (filtered) ---+----------+
```
Four strategies applied per command type:
1. **Smart Filtering** - Removes noise (comments, whitespace, boilerplate)
2. **Grouping** - Aggregates similar items (files by directory, errors by type)
3. **Truncation** - Keeps relevant context, cuts redundancy
4. **Deduplication** - Collapses repeated log lines with counts
## Commands
### Files
```bash
rtk ls . # Token-optimized directory tree
rtk read file.rs # Smart file reading
rtk read file.rs -l aggressive # Signatures only (strips bodies)
rtk smart file.rs # 2-line heuristic code summary
rtk find "*.rs" . # Compact find results
rtk grep "pattern" . # Grouped search results
rtk diff file1 file2 # Condensed diff
```
### Git
```bash
rtk git status # Compact status
rtk git log -n 10 # One-line commits
rtk git diff # Condensed diff
rtk git add # -> "ok"
rtk git commit -m "msg" # -> "ok abc1234"
rtk git push # -> "ok main"
rtk git pull # -> "ok 3 files +10 -2"
```
### GitHub CLI
```bash
rtk gh pr list # Compact PR listing
rtk gh pr view 42 # PR details + checks
rtk gh issue list # Compact issue listing
rtk gh run list # Workflow run status
```
### Test Runners
```bash
rtk test cargo test # Show failures only (-90%)
rtk err npm run build # Errors/warnings only
rtk vitest run # Vitest compact (failures only)
rtk playwright test # E2E results (failures only)
rtk pytest # Python tests (-90%)
rtk go test # Go tests (NDJSON, -90%)
rtk cargo test # Cargo tests (-90%)
```
### Build & Lint
```bash
rtk lint # ESLint grouped by rule/file
rtk lint biome # Supports other linters
rtk tsc # TypeScript errors grouped by file
rtk next build # Next.js build compact
rtk prettier --check . # Files needing formatting
rtk cargo build # Cargo build (-80%)
rtk cargo clippy # Cargo clippy (-80%)
rtk ruff check # Python linting (JSON, -80%)
rtk golangci-lint run # Go linting (JSON, -85%)
```
### Package Managers
```bash
rtk pnpm list # Compact dependency tree
rtk pip list # Python packages (auto-detect uv)
rtk pip outdated # Outdated packages
rtk prisma generate # Schema generation (no ASCII art)
```
### Containers
```bash
rtk docker ps # Compact container list
rtk docker images # Compact image list
rtk docker logs # Deduplicated logs
rtk docker compose ps # Compose services
rtk kubectl pods # Compact pod list
rtk kubectl logs # Deduplicated logs
rtk kubectl services # Compact service list
```
### Data & Analytics
```bash
rtk json config.json # Structure without values
rtk deps # Dependencies summary
rtk env -f AWS # Filtered env vars
rtk log app.log # Deduplicated logs
rtk curl # Auto-detect JSON + schema
rtk wget # Download, strip progress bars
rtk summary # Heuristic summary
rtk proxy # Raw passthrough + tracking
```
### Token Savings Analytics
```bash
rtk gain # Summary stats
rtk gain --graph # ASCII graph (last 30 days)
rtk gain --history # Recent command history
rtk gain --daily # Day-by-day breakdown
rtk gain --all --format json # JSON export for dashboards
rtk discover # Find missed savings opportunities
rtk discover --all --since 7 # All projects, last 7 days
```
## Global Flags
```bash
-u, --ultra-compact # ASCII icons, inline format (extra token savings)
-v, --verbose # Increase verbosity (-v, -vv, -vvv)
```
## Examples
**Directory listing:**
```
# ls -la (45 lines, ~800 tokens) # rtk ls (12 lines, ~150 tokens)
drwxr-xr-x 15 user staff 480 ... my-project/
-rw-r--r-- 1 user staff 1234 ... +-- src/ (8 files)
... | +-- main.rs
+-- Cargo.toml
```
**Git operations:**
```
# git push (15 lines, ~200 tokens) # rtk git push (1 line, ~10 tokens)
Enumerating objects: 5, done. ok main
Counting objects: 100% (5/5), done.
Delta compression using up to 8 threads
...
```
**Test output:**
```
# cargo test (200+ lines on failure) # rtk test cargo test (~20 lines)
running 15 tests FAILED: 2/15 tests
test utils::test_parse ... ok test_edge_case: assertion failed
test utils::test_format ... ok test_overflow: panic at utils.rs:18
...
```
## Auto-Rewrite Hook
The most effective way to use rtk. The hook transparently intercepts Bash commands and rewrites them to rtk equivalents before execution.
**Result**: 100% rtk adoption across all conversations and subagents, zero token overhead.
### Setup
```bash
rtk init -g # Install hook + RTK.md (recommended)
rtk init -g --auto-patch # Non-interactive (CI/CD)
rtk init -g --hook-only # Hook only, no RTK.md
rtk init --show # Verify installation
```
After install, **restart Claude Code**.
### Commands Rewritten
| Raw Command | Rewritten To |
|-------------|-------------|
| `git status/diff/log/add/commit/push/pull` | `rtk git ...` |
| `gh pr/issue/run` | `rtk gh ...` |
| `cargo test/build/clippy` | `rtk cargo ...` |
| `cat/head/tail ` | `rtk read ` |
| `rg/grep ` | `rtk grep ` |
| `ls` | `rtk ls` |
| `vitest/jest` | `rtk vitest run` |
| `tsc` | `rtk tsc` |
| `eslint/biome` | `rtk lint` |
| `prettier` | `rtk prettier` |
| `playwright` | `rtk playwright` |
| `prisma` | `rtk prisma` |
| `ruff check/format` | `rtk ruff ...` |
| `pytest` | `rtk pytest` |
| `pip list/install` | `rtk pip ...` |
| `go test/build/vet` | `rtk go ...` |
| `golangci-lint` | `rtk golangci-lint` |
| `docker ps/images/logs` | `rtk docker ...` |
| `kubectl get/logs` | `rtk kubectl ...` |
| `curl` | `rtk curl` |
| `pnpm list/outdated` | `rtk pnpm ...` |
Commands already using `rtk`, heredocs (`<<`), and unrecognized commands pass through unchanged.
## Configuration
### Config File
`~/.config/rtk/config.toml` (macOS: `~/Library/Application Support/rtk/config.toml`):
```toml
[tracking]
database_path = "/path/to/custom.db" # default: ~/.local/share/rtk/history.db
[hooks]
exclude_commands = ["curl", "playwright"] # skip rewrite for these
[tee]
enabled = true # save raw output on failure (default: true)
mode = "failures" # "failures", "always", or "never"
max_files = 20 # rotation limit
```
### Tee: Full Output Recovery
When a command fails, RTK saves the full unfiltered output so the LLM can read it without re-executing:
```
FAILED: 2/15 tests
[full output: ~/.local/share/rtk/tee/1707753600_cargo_test.log]
```
### Uninstall
```bash
rtk init -g --uninstall # Remove hook, RTK.md, settings.json entry
cargo uninstall rtk # Remove binary
brew uninstall rtk # If installed via Homebrew
```
## Documentation
- **[TROUBLESHOOTING.md](docs/TROUBLESHOOTING.md)** - Fix common issues
- **[INSTALL.md](INSTALL.md)** - Detailed installation guide
- **[ARCHITECTURE.md](ARCHITECTURE.md)** - Technical architecture
- **[SECURITY.md](SECURITY.md)** - Security policy and PR review process
- **[AUDIT_GUIDE.md](docs/AUDIT_GUIDE.md)** - Token savings analytics guide
## Contributing
Contributions welcome! Please open an issue or PR on [GitHub](https://github.com/rtk-ai/rtk).
Join the community on [Discord](https://discord.gg/pvHdzAec).
## License
MIT License - see [LICENSE](LICENSE) for details.