Tokenadevsclaudeslim

Best alternative to claudeslim

Tokenade is the best alternative to claudeslim — Universal token-optimization engine for AI coding agents — native hooks for 18 agents combine output filtering, semantic code search, skeleton compression, sandboxed execution, MCP proxying and a live savings dashboard in a single dependency-free binary.

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Output Filtering

Format-aware compactors cover git, cargo, kubectl, terraform, docker and more — 60–99% reduction on the noisiest commands. Command rewriting further trims source-side before the shell even runs.

Output Filtering

Not available. claudeslim operates at the API-payload level (symbol substitution, key shortening), not at the tool-output boundary. Applying it to structured command outputs could corrupt JSON or code identifiers.

Semantic Code Search

Finds the most relevant files for a task and sends only those to the model, instead of the whole repo. Runs fully on-device with no external vector database and no model downloads — fast even on large codebases.

Semantic Code Search

Not available. claudeslim does not index or search codebases.

Skeleton Compression

Signatures-only view of source files, YAML, Markdown and Terraform — −64% on file reads while preserving every top-level declaration. Stacks on top of output filtering for maximum savings.

Skeleton Compression

Not available. claudeslim abbreviates API payload keys and hashes system prompts — it does not produce signature-only views of source files.

Third-Party MCP Optimization

tokenade mcp-proxy wraps any third-party MCP server's launch command in the agent's MCP config, so every tool result (verbose JSON, logs, console output) is folded on the way back — set once, not per call. Image results pass through untouched.

Lazy MCP Loading

Not available. claudeslim does not interact with MCP servers.

Mechanism Breadth

The only tool combining output filtering + semantic search + skeleton compression + sandbox execution + MCP proxying + secret redaction + content-addressed cache in a single binary. On the open THOL benchmark (Claude Code 2.1.183 campaign) it is the only tool measured significantly cheaper than the control: cost ratio 0.84 [0.72, 0.95], 120/120 successful runs.

Mechanism Breadth

Single mechanism targeting the API payload boundary. The approach is fundamentally risky: renaming tool definitions breaks Anthropic's prompt cache, likely costing more tokens than it saves on long sessions.

Setup & Installation

npm install -g @tokenade/cli then tokenade install — native hooks auto-detected for 18 agents (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Gemini CLI, Copilot, Windsurf and more). Works without an account: 10M tokens offered per machine to try. Not yet on crates.io or Homebrew.

Setup & Installation

pip install claudeslim + set ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL + optional systemd unit. Simple env-var approach; no agent-specific installer needed.

Savings Dashboard

tokenade dashboard shows measured savings, per-command and per-project breakdown, and framework-detection status. Local logs rotate automatically with built-in secret redaction.

Savings Dashboard

Not available. claudeslim provides no analytics on actual savings or API usage receipts.

claudeslim at a glance

claudeslim starts at Free (open source). Python HTTP proxy on localhost:8086 that intercepts the Anthropic API via ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL and applies symbol-table substitution, system-prompt hashing and message-history abbreviation, claiming 60–85% token reduction.

Pros

  • Zero modification to Claude Code binary — uses the ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL env var only
  • systemd integration for set-and-forget background operation
  • Pure server-side approach: works regardless of agent version

Cons

  • Tool-definition renaming breaks Anthropic's prompt cache, likely increasing costs rather than reducing them
  • System-prompt SHA-256 hashing is not a valid API input — the model cannot reconstruct behavior from a hash
  • Token counts measured pre-compression; billed API usage.input_tokens not validated in docs
  • Python proxy adds latency on the API hot path

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