context-budget

name	context-budget
description	Audit token consumption across agents, skills, MCP servers, and rules -- identify bloat, redundancy, and optimization opportunities.
origin	ECC

Context Budget

Audit token consumption across agents, skills, MCP servers, and rules to identify optimization opportunities.

When to Use

• Context window feels constrained during complex tasks
• After installing many skills, agents, or MCP servers
• Periodic maintenance to keep token overhead low
• When agent performance degrades due to context bloat

How It Works

Phase 1: Inventory

Scan all components and estimate token usage:

• Skills (SKILL.md files)
• Agents (agent definitions)
• MCP servers (tool schemas -- ~500 tokens per tool)
• Rules (rule files)

Phase 2: Classify

Categorize components by usage frequency:

• Always needed: Core skills and rules used in every session
• Sometimes needed: Domain-specific skills activated on demand
• Rarely needed: Specialized tools used infrequently

Phase 3: Detect Issues

Identify problems:

• Bloated descriptions that could be shorter
• Redundant components covering the same ground
• MCP over-subscription (too many tools registered)
• Agent descriptions that load in every Task tool invocation

Phase 4: Report

Generate a breakdown with optimization recommendations ranked by potential token savings.

Key Insights

• MCP servers represent the largest token overhead (~500 tokens per tool schema)
• Agent descriptions load in every Task tool invocation
• Skills only load when activated, making them more efficient
• Rules load on every conversation start

Modes

• Basic audit: Summary of component counts and estimated token usage
• Verbose audit: Detailed per-component breakdown with specific recommendations