60 ways to spend fewer tokens
The 22 Beginner tips are free to read. The 38 advanced tactics unlock with Pro — plus a fresh tip in your inbox every morning.
Count Tokens Before You Hit Send, Not After the Bill Arrives
Measure a prompt's token count before sending it, so you catch oversized context while trimming it is still free.
Set Hard Spend Caps in the Provider Console
Configure provider-side usage limits, budgets, and alerts so a bug, a retry storm, or a leaked key cannot quietly run your bill far past a ceiling you set in advance.
Log input_tokens and output_tokens on Every Call to Find Your Real Waste
Persist the usage object from every API response with a feature tag, so you can see exactly which feature and which token type is draining your budget.
Give Each Feature a Token Budget and Enforce It with max_tokens
Set an explicit per-feature output ceiling instead of leaving max_tokens at a huge default, and reserve big budgets only for features that truly need them.
Tag Every Call So You Know Which Feature Burns Tokens
Attach feature, user, and environment labels to every API call so your bill breaks down by what actually drives cost instead of one undifferentiated total.
Measure Cost-Per-Success, Not Cost-Per-Call
Compare two prompts or models on cost divided by successful outcomes, including retries and rework, so you stop chasing cheap calls that quietly fail and get redone.
Wire Up Spend Alerts and a Token Circuit Breaker Before You Need Them
Combine provider budget alerts with an in-app token meter that hard-stops a feature once it blows past its expected per-period budget.
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