anth-performance-tuning

name	anth-performance-tuning
description	Optimize Claude API performance with prompt caching, model selection, streaming, and latency reduction techniques. Use when experiencing slow responses, optimizing token usage, or reducing time-to-first-token in production. Trigger with phrases like "anthropic performance", "claude speed", "optimize claude latency", "anthropic caching", "faster claude responses".
allowed-tools	Read, Write, Edit, Grep
version	1.6.0
license	MIT
author	Jeremy Longshore <[e-mail]>
tags	["saas","ai","anthropic"]
compatibility	Designed for Claude Code

Anthropic Performance Tuning

Overview

Optimize Claude API latency and throughput via prompt caching, model selection, streaming, and request optimization. The biggest wins come from prompt caching (90% input cost reduction) and model selection (Haiku is 4x faster than Sonnet).

Prompt Caching (Biggest Win)

import anthropic

client = anthropic.Anthropic()

# Mark long, reusable content with cache_control
# Cached content: 90% cheaper on subsequent requests, near-zero latency for cached portion
message = client.messages.create(
    model="claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
    max_tokens=1024,
    system=[
        {
            "type": "text",
            "text": "You are an expert on the following 50-page document: ...<long document>...",
            "cache_control": {"type": "ephemeral"}  # Cache this block
        }
    ],
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "What does section 3.2 say?"}]
)

# Check cache performance
print(f"Cache read tokens: {message.usage.cache_read_input_tokens}")   # Free/cheap
print(f"Cache creation tokens: {message.usage.cache_creation_input_tokens}")  # First call only
print(f"Uncached input tokens: {message.usage.input_tokens}")

Cache requirements: Minimum 1,024 tokens for Sonnet/Opus, 2,048 for Haiku. Cache lives for 5 minutes (refreshed on each hit).

Model Selection for Speed

Model	Speed	Cost (per MTok in/out)	Best For
Claude Haiku	Fastest