Token Pilot

What is Token Pilot?

Token Pilot reduces context consumption in AI coding assistants by up to 90% without changing how you work. It provides MCP tools, PreToolUse hooks, and tp-* subagents to replace heavy file reads with structural summaries, symbol lookups, and token-efficient alternatives. Designed for users of Claude Code, Cursor, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI, and Cline.

How to use Token Pilot?

Run npx -y token-pilot init to create or merge the .mcp.json configuration. Restart your AI assistant to activate. For Claude Code, install via the plugin marketplace with claude plugin marketplace add https://github.com/Digital-Threads/token-pilot then claude plugin install token-pilot@token-pilot.

Key features of Token Pilot

• 23 MCP tools for structural reads, symbol search, git analysis, session analytics
• PreToolUse hooks intercept heavy Read, Grep, Bash calls and redirect to efficient alternatives
• 25 tp-* subagents (Claude Code only) with MCP-first behavior and budget enforcement
• Three enforcement modes: advisory, deny (default), strict
• Supports TypeScript, JavaScript, Python, Go, Rust, Java, Kotlin, C#, C/C++, PHP, Ruby
• Benchmarks show 92% average token savings across four public repos

Use cases of Token Pilot

• Load a 15-line outline instead of a 500-line file when you only need structure
• Find a specific function by name (read_symbol) without reading the whole module
• Block unbounded Grep calls and rewrite them as token-efficient searches
• Analyze git history with smart_log capped to 20 commits instead of thousands of lines
• Delegate debugging or PR review to a tp-* subagent with a strict token budget

FAQ from Token Pilot

What token savings does Token Pilot deliver?

Up to 90% on average. Benchmarks on four open-source repos (token-pilot, express, fastify, flask) showed 92% input token reduction for files ≥50 lines. Full sessions gain additional savings from session cache, read_symbol, and read_for_edit.

Which AI assistants are supported?

Full support (tools + hooks + subagents): Claude Code. Tools and hooks supported on Cursor, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI, Cline (VS Code). Subagents are Claude Code only. Manual config snippets for each client are in the installation guide.

How do I update Token Pilot?

For Claude Code: claude plugin update token-pilot. For other clients: npx -y token-pilot init always pulls the latest; restart your client. If installed globally, run `npm i -g token-pilot