claude-code-ultimate-guide/examples/skills/rtk-optimizer/SKILL.md

name	description	version	tags
rtk-optimizer	Optimize command outputs with RTK (Rust Token Killer) for 70% token reduction	1.0.0	optimization tokens efficiency git

RTK Optimizer Skill

Purpose: Automatically suggest RTK wrappers for high-verbosity commands to reduce token consumption.

How It Works

1. Detect high-verbosity commands in user requests
2. Suggest RTK wrapper if applicable
3. Execute with RTK when user confirms
4. Track savings over session

Supported Commands

✅ High-Value (>70% reduction)

• git log → rtk git log (92.3% reduction)
• git status → rtk git status (76.0% reduction)
• find → rtk find (76.3% reduction)

✅ Medium-Value (50-70% reduction)

• git diff → rtk git diff (55.9% reduction)
• cat <large-file> → rtk read <file> (62.5% reduction)

❌ Not Recommended

• ls (worse with RTK: -274%)
• grep (buggy in v0.2.0)

Activation Examples

User: "Show me the git history" Skill: Detects git log → Suggests rtk git log → Explains 92.3% token savings

User: "Find all markdown files" Skill: Detects find → Suggests rtk find "*.md" . → Explains 76.3% savings

Installation Check

Before first use, verify RTK is installed:

rtk --version  # Should output: rtk 0.2.0

If not installed:

curl -fsSL "https://github.com/pszymkowiak/rtk/releases/latest/download/rtk-aarch64-apple-darwin.tar.gz" -o rtk.tar.gz
tar -xzf rtk.tar.gz
sudo mv rtk /usr/local/bin/
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/rtk
rm rtk.tar.gz

Usage Pattern

# When user requests high-verbosity command:

1. Acknowledge request
2. Suggest RTK optimization:
   "I'll use `rtk git log` to reduce token usage by ~92%"
3. Execute RTK command
4. Track savings (optional):
   "Saved ~13K tokens (baseline: 14K, RTK: 1K)"

Session Tracking

Optional: Track cumulative savings across session:

# At session end
rtk gain  # Shows total token savings for session

Edge Cases

• Small outputs (<100 chars): Skip RTK (overhead not worth it)
• Already using Claude tools: Grep/Read tools are already optimized
• Multiple commands: Batch with RTK wrapper once, not per command

Configuration

Enable via CLAUDE.md:

## Token Optimization

Use RTK (Rust Token Killer) for high-verbosity commands:
- git operations (log, status, diff)
- file finding
- large file reading

Metrics (Verified)

Based on real-world testing:

• git log: 13,994 chars → 1,076 chars (92.3% reduction)
• git status: 100 chars → 24 chars (76.0% reduction)
• find: 780 chars → 185 chars (76.3% reduction)
• git diff: 15,815 chars → 6,982 chars (55.9% reduction)
• read file: 163,587 chars → 61,339 chars (62.5% reduction)

Average: 72.6% token reduction

Limitations

• RTK v0.2.0 (8 stars on GitHub, low adoption)
• Some commands buggy (grep returns empty)
• ls command worse with RTK (-274% increase)
• Requires manual installation (not on npm/brew yet)

Recommendation

Use RTK for: git workflows, file finding, large file reading Skip RTK for: ls, grep, small outputs, quick exploration

References

• RTK GitHub: https://github.com/pszymkowiak/rtk
• Evaluation: docs/resource-evaluations/rtk-evaluation.md
• CLAUDE.md template: examples/claude-md/rtk-optimized.md