u/swapniltamse

https://askthedeclaration.com/

You know the feeling. You opened Claude to fix one bug. Bug is fixed. It's been three hours. You're refactoring things that weren't broken.

I call it "one more prompt" syndrome. None of us have a stopping mechanism.

So I built one.

It's called /chill. It fires automatically inside Claude Code, or you type it when you feel yourself going down the slope.

Mine is set to Mumbai tapori. Yesterday I was over-engineering my model selection and it came back:

>

It reads what you were just doing and calls it out specifically. Not a generic "take a break" message.

It escalates too. 9pm is gentle. 11pm the warmth is gone. 1am is two words: "bas bidu. so ja."

15 language packs. All genuine registers, not Google Translate. Mumbai tapori, Egyptian Arabic, Tamil, Irish English, Klingon (someone had opinions).

If you want to add your language, French, Italian gangsta, whatever.
PRs are open.

github.com/swapniltamse/one-more-prompt

Context: I kept watching Claude Code read my entire working directory to write a git commit message. $0.033 per commit. I know what I changed. I was there when I changed it.

So I built token-optimizer — a Claude Code skill + PreToolUse hook that catches these operations before they start.

What it does

When you ask Claude to do something that has a faster manual alternative, it blocks the tool call and shows you the command:

You already know this one.

  git commit -m "fix: describe what you changed"

  You were there. You know what changed.
  Saves ~$0.033  (5,000 tokens).

  To let Claude do it anyway:
    # token-optimizer: skip
    [your command here]

Zero tokens used. You get the reminder, not the bill.

How it works

Two layers:

1. SKILL.md — you invoke /token-optimizer before a task. It checks your intent against a pattern library and returns MANUAL, HYBRID, or AGENTIC with a cost estimate. If AGENTIC, proceeds immediately with no friction.
2. token_guard.py — a PreToolUse hook that fires automatically on every Bash/Write call, even when you forget to invoke the skill. Logs every blocked op to ~/.claude/token-optimizer/blocked.log with timestamp and dollar cost.

What it catches (10 patterns)

• git commit (bare) — 2,000-8,000 tokens avg
• git diff (bare) — 1,000-5,000 tokens
• git log verbose — 1,000-3,000 tokens
• grep -r / find -name — 500-2,000 tokens
• Variable rename via sed — 800-5,000 tokens
• SQL from scratch — 1,500-6,000 tokens (skill-only, HYBRID mode)
• Organize imports — 500-2,000 tokens (skill-only)
  • 3 more in patterns.yaml

Bypass / kill switch

# token-optimizer: skip     <- passes any command through
TOKEN_OPTIMIZER_DISABLED=1  <- disables the hook entirely (CI/CD)

Install

# Mac/Linux
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/swapniltamse/token-optimizer/main/install.sh | bash

# Windows
irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/swapniltamse/token-optimizer/main/install.ps1 | iex

Requires Python 3. PyYAML installed automatically. Merges into your existing settings.json without overwriting anything.

What I want from this thread

Patterns I missed. If you have an operation you keep routing through Claude that has a faster manual path, drop it here. The pattern library (config/patterns.yaml) is the product. PRs welcome.

Repo: github.com/swapniltamse/token-optimizer