rtk-optimizer

name	rtk-optimizer
description	Wrap high-verbosity shell commands with RTK to reduce token consumption. Use when running git log, git diff, cargo test, pytest, or other verbose CLI output that wastes context window tokens.
allowed-tools	Bash
effort	low
metadata	{"version":"1.0.0"}

RTK Optimizer Skill

Purpose: Automatically suggest RTK wrappers for high-verbosity commands to reduce token consumption.

How It Works

1. Detect high-verbosity commands in user requests
2. Suggest RTK wrapper if applicable
3. Execute with RTK when user confirms
4. Track savings over session

Supported Commands

Git (>70% reduction)

• git log → rtk git log (92.3% reduction)
• git status → rtk git status (76.0% reduction)
• find → rtk find (76.3% reduction)

Medium-Value (50-70% reduction)

• git diff → rtk git diff (55.9% reduction)
• cat <large-file> → rtk read <file> (62.5% reduction)

JS/TS Stack (70-90% reduction)

• pnpm list → rtk pnpm list (82% reduction)
• pnpm test / vitest run → rtk vitest run (90% reduction)

Rust Toolchain (80-90% reduction)

• cargo test → rtk cargo test (90% reduction)
• cargo build → rtk cargo build (80% reduction)
• cargo clippy → rtk cargo clippy (80% reduction)

Python & Go (90% reduction)

• pytest → rtk python pytest (90% reduction)
• go test → rtk go test (90% reduction)

GitHub CLI (79-87% reduction)

• gh pr view → rtk gh pr view (87% reduction)
• gh pr checks → rtk gh pr checks (79% reduction)

File Operations

• ls → rtk ls (condensed output)
• grep → rtk grep (filtered output)

Activation Examples

User: "Show me the git history" Skill: Detects git log → Suggests rtk git log → Explains 92.3% token savings

User: "Find all markdown files" Skill: Detects find → Suggests rtk find "*.md" . → Explains 76.3% savings

Installation Check

Before first use, verify RTK is installed:

rtk --version  # Should output: rtk 0.16.0+

If not installed:

# Homebrew (macOS/Linux)
brew install rtk-ai/tap/rtk

# Cargo (all platforms)
cargo install rtk

Usage Pattern

# When user requests high-verbosity command:

1. Acknowledge request
2. Suggest RTK optimization:
   "I'll use `rtk git log` to reduce token usage by ~92%"
3. Execute RTK command
4. Track savings (optional):
   "Saved ~13K tokens (baseline: 14K, RTK: 1K)"

Session Tracking

Optional: Track cumulative savings across session:

# At session end
rtk gain  # Shows total token savings for session (SQLite-backed)

Edge Cases

• Small outputs (<100 chars): Skip RTK (overhead not worth it)
• Already using Claude tools: Grep/Read tools are already optimized
• Multiple commands: Batch with RTK wrapper once, not per command

Configuration

Enable via CLAUDE.md:

## Token Optimization

Use RTK (Rust Token Killer) for high-verbosity commands:
- git operations (log, status, diff)
- package managers (pnpm, npm)
- build tools (cargo, go)
- test frameworks (vitest, pytest)
- file finding and reading

Metrics (Verified)

Based on real-world testing:

• git log: 13,994 chars → 1,076 chars (92.3% reduction)
• git status: 100 chars → 24 chars (76.0% reduction)
• find: 780 chars → 185 chars (76.3% reduction)
• git diff: 15,815 chars → 6,982 chars (55.9% reduction)
• read file: 163,587 chars → 61,339 chars (62.5% reduction)

Average: 72.6% token reduction

Limitations

• 446 stars on GitHub, actively maintained (30 releases in 23 days)
• Not suitable for interactive commands
• Rapid development cadence (check for breaking changes)

Recommendation

Use RTK for: git workflows, file operations, test frameworks, build tools, package managers Skip RTK for: small outputs, quick exploration, interactive commands

References

• RTK GitHub: https://github.com/rtk-ai/rtk
• RTK Website: https://www.rtk-ai.app/
• Evaluation: docs/resource-evaluations/rtk-evaluation.md
• CLAUDE.md template: examples/claude-md/rtk-optimized.md