snip - Reduce LLM Token Usage by 60-90%

CLI proxy that filters shell output before it reaches your AI coding assistant's context window. Works with Claude Code, Cursor, Copilot, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, Cline, Codex, Kilo Code, Antigravity, Aider, and any tool that runs shell commands.

AI coding agents burn tokens on verbose shell output that adds zero signal. A passing go test produces hundreds of lines the LLM will never use. git log dumps full commit metadata when a one-liner per commit suffices.

snip sits between your AI tool and the shell, filtering output through declarative YAML pipelines. Write a YAML file, drop it in a folder, done. The extensible LLM token optimizer: filters are YAML data files, not compiled code.

  snip — Token Savings Report
  ══════════════════════════════

  Commands filtered     128
  Tokens saved          2.3M
  Avg savings           99.8%
  Efficiency            Elite
  Total time            725.9s

  ███████████████████░ 100%

  14-day trend  ▁█▇

  Top commands by tokens saved

  Command                    Runs  Saved   Savings  Impact
  ─────────────────────────  ────  ──────  ───────  ────────────
  go test ./...              8     806.2K  99.8%    ████████████
  go test ./pkg/...          3     482.9K  99.8%    ███████░░░░░
  go test ./... -count=1     3     482.0K  99.8%    ███████░░░░░

Measured on a real Claude Code session — 128 commands, 2.3M tokens saved.

Quick Start

# Quick install (macOS/Linux)
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/edouard-claude/snip/master/install.sh | sh

# Or via Homebrew
brew install edouard-claude/tap/snip

# Or with Go
go install github.com/edouard-claude/snip/cmd/snip@latest

# Then hook into Claude Code
snip init
# That's it. Every shell command Claude runs now goes through snip.

How It Works

Before — Claude Code sees this (689 tokens):

$ go test ./...
ok  	github.com/edouard-claude/snip/internal/cli	3.728s	coverage: 14.4% of statements
ok  	github.com/edouard-claude/snip/internal/config	2.359s	coverage: 65.0% of statements
ok  	github.com/edouard-claude/snip/internal/display	1.221s	coverage: 72.6% of statements
ok  	github.com/edouard-claude/snip/internal/engine	1.816s	coverage: 47.9% of statements
ok  	github.com/edouard-claude/snip/internal/filter	4.306s	coverage: 72.3% of statements
ok  	github.com/edouard-claude/snip/internal/initcmd	2.981s	coverage: 59.1% of statements
ok  	github.com/edouard-claude/snip/internal/tee	0.614s	coverage: 70.6% of statements
ok  	github.com/edouard-claude/snip/internal/tracking	5.355s	coverage: 75.0% of statements
ok  	github.com/edouard-claude/snip/internal/utils	5.515s	coverage: 100.0% of statements

After — snip returns this (16 tokens):

10 passed, 0 failed

That's 97.7% fewer tokens. The LLM gets the same signal — all tests pass — without the noise.

┌─────────────┐     ┌─────────────────┐     ┌──────────────┐     ┌────────────┐
│ Claude Code │────>│ snip intercept  │────>│ run command  │────>│   filter   │
│  runs git   │     │  match filter   │     │  capture I/O │     │  pipeline  │
└─────────────┘     └─────────────────┘     └──────────────┘     └─────┬──────┘
                                                                       │
                    ┌─────────────────┐     ┌──────────────┐           │
                    │   Claude Code   │<────│ track savings│<──────────┘
                    │  sees filtered  │     │  in SQLite   │
                    └─────────────────┘     └──────────────┘

No filter match? The command passes through unchanged — zero overhead.

Token Savings by Command

Command	Before	After	Reduction
`cargo test`	591 tokens	5 tokens	99.2%
`go test ./...`	689 tokens	16 tokens	97.7%
`git log`	371 tokens	53 tokens	85.7%
`git status`	112 tokens	16 tokens	85.7%
`git diff`	355 tokens	66 tokens	81.4%

Stop wasting tokens on noise. snip gives the LLM the same signal in a fraction of the context window.

Installation

Homebrew (recommended)

brew install edouard-claude/tap/snip

From GitHub Releases

Download the latest binary for your platform from Releases.

# macOS (Apple Silicon)
curl -Lo snip.tar.gz https://github.com/edouard-claude/snip/releases/latest/download/snip_$(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/edouard-claude/snip/releases/latest | grep tag_name | cut -d'"' -f4 | tr -d v)_darwin_arm64.tar.gz
tar xzf snip.tar.gz && mv snip /usr/local/bin/

From source

go install github.com/edouard-claude/snip/cmd/snip@latest

Or build locally:

git clone https://github.com/edouard-claude/snip.git
cd snip && make install

Requires Go 1.25+.

Supported AI Tools

snip integrates with every major AI coding assistant. One binary, universal compatibility.

Tool	Install	Method
Claude Code	`snip init`	PreToolUse hook (native)
Cursor	`snip init --agent cursor`	beforeShellExecution hook (native)
GitHub Copilot	`snip init --agent copilot`	.github/copilot-instructions.md
Gemini CLI	`snip init --agent gemini`	GEMINI.md prompt injection
Codex (OpenAI)	`snip init --agent codex`	AGENTS.md prompt injection
Windsurf	`snip init --agent windsurf`	.windsurfrules prompt injection
Cline / Roo Code	`snip init --agent cline`	.clinerules prompt injection
Kilo Code	`snip init --agent kilocode`	.kilocode/rules/ prompt injection
Antigravity	`snip init --agent antigravity`	.agents/rules/ prompt injection
OpenCode	opencode-snip plugin	tool.execute.before hook
OpenClaw	`openclaw plugins install openclaw-snip`	plugin
Aider	shell aliases	prefix commands with snip

Claude Code

snip init

This installs a PreToolUse hook that transparently rewrites supported commands. Claude Code never sees the substitution -- it receives compressed output as if the original command produced it.

Supported commands: 126 filters covering git, go, cargo, npm, yarn, pnpm, docker, kubectl, terraform, aws, gh, and 80+ more tools.

snip init --uninstall   # remove the hook

Cursor

snip init --agent cursor

This patches ~/.cursor/hooks.json with a beforeShellExecution hook. Works the same way as Claude Code.

snip init --agent cursor --uninstall   # remove the hook

Copilot / Gemini / Codex / Windsurf / Cline / Kilo Code / Antigravity

snip init --agent copilot      # creates .github/copilot-instructions.md
snip init --agent gemini       # creates GEMINI.md
snip init --agent codex        # creates AGENTS.md
snip init --agent windsurf     # creates .windsurfrules
snip init --agent cline        # creates .clinerules
snip init --agent kilocode     # creates .kilocode/rules/snip-rules.md
snip init --agent antigravity  # creates .agents/rules/snip-rules.md

These agents use prompt injection: a markdown file instructs the LLM to prefix shell commands with snip. Project-scoped (created in the current directory).

OpenCode

Install the opencode-snip plugin by adding it to your OpenCode config (~/.config/opencode/opencode.json):

{
  "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json",
  "plugin": ["opencode-snip@latest"]
}

The plugin uses the tool.execute.before hook to automatically prefix all commands with snip. Commands not supported by snip pass through unchanged.

OpenClaw

openclaw plugins install openclaw-snip

Aider

Use shell aliases to route commands through snip:

# Add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc
alias git="snip git"
alias go="snip go"
alias cargo="snip cargo"

Or instruct the LLM via system prompt to prefix commands with snip.

Standalone

snip works without any AI tool:

snip git log -10
snip go test ./...
snip gain             # token savings report

Usage

snip <command> [args]       # filter a command
snip gain                   # full dashboard (summary + sparkline + top commands)
snip gain --daily           # daily breakdown
snip gain --weekly          # weekly breakdown
snip gain --monthly         # monthly breakdown
snip gain --top 10          # top N commands by tokens saved
snip gain --history 20      # last 20 commands
snip gain --no-truncate     # disable command truncation
snip gain --json            # machine-readable output
snip gain --csv             # CSV export
snip discover               # find missed savings in Claude Code history
snip discover --since 30    # scan last 30 days
snip discover --all         # scan all projects
snip -v <command>           # verbose mode (show filter details)
snip proxy <command>        # force passthrough (no filtering)
snip config                 # show config
snip init                       # install Claude Code hook
snip init --agent cursor        # install Cursor hook
snip init --agent copilot       # install Copilot integration
snip init --agent gemini        # install Gemini CLI integration
snip init --agent kilocode      # install Kilo Code integration
snip init --agent antigravity   # install Antigravity integration
snip init --uninstall           # remove hook

Filters

Filters are declarative YAML files. The binary is the engine, filters are data — the two evolve independently.

name: "git-log"
version: 1
description: "Condense git log to hash + message"

match:
  command: "git"
  subcommand: "log"
  exclude_flags: ["--format", "--pretty", "--oneline"]

inject:
  args: ["--pretty=format:%h %s (%ar) <%an>", "--no-merges"]
  defaults:
    "-n": "10"

pipeline:
  - action: "keep_lines"
    pattern: "\\S"
  - action: "truncate_lines"
    max: 80
  - action: "format_template"
    template: "{{.count}} commits:\n{{.lines}}"

on_error: "passthrough"

126 Built-in Filters

snip ships with 126 declarative YAML filters covering all major developer tools:

Category	Filters
Git (12)	status, log, diff, show, add, commit, push, pull, branch, fetch, stash, worktree
GitHub CLI (3)	gh pr, gh issue, gh run
Go (4)	go test, go build, go vet, golangci-lint
Rust (7)	cargo test/build/check/clippy/install/nextest, rustc
Python (8)	pytest, ruff, mypy, basedpyright, ty, pip, poetry, uv
JavaScript/TypeScript (17)	jest, vitest, eslint, tsc, biome, oxlint, prettier, next, playwright, nx, turbo, npm, npx, yarn, pnpm, prisma
Ruby (6)	rspec, rubocop, rake, bundle, rails migrate, rails routes
.NET (3)	dotnet build/test/format
Docker/K8s (7)	docker build/ps/images/logs/compose, kubectl get/logs
Cloud/Infra (6)	terraform, tofu, helm, ansible-playbook, gcloud, aws
Build tools (12)	make, gcc, g++, gradle, mvn, swift, xcodebuild, just, task, pio, trunk, mise
Files/Search (7)	ls, find, grep, rg, diff, wc, tree
Linting (5)	shellcheck, hadolint, markdownlint, yamllint, pre-commit
Package managers (4)	brew, composer, poetry, uv
System/Network (14)	curl, wget, psql, jq, ping, ssh, rsync, df, du, ps, systemctl, iptables, stat, fail2ban
Other (11)	jira, jj, yadm, gt, ollama, sops, skopeo, shopify, quarto, liquibase, spring-boot

Run snip discover to see which of your commands already have filters.

19 Pipeline Actions

Action	Description
`keep_lines`	Keep lines matching regex
`remove_lines`	Remove lines matching regex
`truncate_lines`	Truncate lines to max length
`strip_ansi`	Remove ANSI escape codes
`head` / `tail`	Keep first/last N lines
`group_by`	Group lines by regex capture
`dedup`	Deduplicate with optional normalization
`json_extract`	Extract fields from JSON
`json_schema`	Infer schema from JSON
`ndjson_stream`	Process newline-delimited JSON
`regex_extract`	Extract regex captures
`state_machine`	Multi-state line processing
`aggregate`	Count pattern matches
`format_template`	Go template formatting
`compact_path`	Shorten file paths
`replace`	Regex find and replace
`match_output`	Conditional short-circuit (return message if pattern matches)
`on_empty`	Return message if output is empty

Custom Filters

snip init                                    # creates ~/.config/snip/filters/
vim ~/.config/snip/filters/my-tool.yaml      # add your filter

User filters take priority over built-in ones. Later directories in the list override earlier ones.

Configuration

Optional TOML config at ~/.config/snip/config.toml:

[tracking]
db_path = "~/.local/share/snip/tracking.db"

[display]
color = true
emoji = true
quiet_no_filter = false  # suppress "no filter" stderr messages

[filters]
dir = "~/.config/snip/filters"

[filters.enable]
# git-diff = false       # disable a specific built-in filter

[tee]
enabled = true
mode = "failures"    # "failures" | "always" | "never"
max_files = 20
max_file_size = 1048576

Multiple Filter Directories

filters.dir accepts a single string or an array of directories. This enables per-project filter rules alongside global ones:

[filters]
dir = [
    "~/.config/snip/filters",
    "${env.PWD}/.snip",
]

Later directories take priority: a filter in .snip/ overrides one with the same name in ~/.config/snip/filters/.

Environment Variable Expansion

All path values support ${env.VAR} syntax to reference environment variables:

[filters]
dir = "${env.HOME}/.config/snip/filters"

[tracking]
db_path = "${env.XDG_DATA_HOME}/snip/tracking.db"

Tilde expansion (~/) is also supported and applied after env var expansion.

Design

Startup < 10ms — snip intercepts every shell command; latency is critical
Graceful degradation — if a filter fails, fall back to raw output
Exit code preservation — always propagate the underlying tool's exit code
Lazy regex compilation — sync.Once per pattern, reused across invocations
Zero CGO — pure Go SQLite driver, static binaries, trivial cross-compilation
Goroutine concurrency — stdout/stderr captured in parallel without thread pools

Design Philosophy

snip chose a fundamentally different approach to LLM token reduction: filters are data, not code. The binary is the engine, filters are YAML data files, and the two evolve independently.

	rtk (Rust)	snip (Go)
Filter authoring	Write Rust, recompile, wait for release	Write YAML, drop in a folder, done
Filter format	Compiled into the binary	Declarative YAML, engine and filters evolve independently
Custom filters	Fork the repo, add Rust code	Create a `.yaml` file in `~/.config/snip/filters/`
Concurrency	2 OS threads	Goroutines (lightweight, no thread pool)
SQLite	Requires CGO + C compiler	Pure Go driver, static binary, no dependencies
Cross-compilation	Per-target C toolchain	`GOOS=linux GOARCH=arm64 go build`
Pipeline actions	Built-in strategies	19 composable actions (keep, remove, regex, JSON, state machine...)
Contributing	Rust knowledge required	YAML knowledge sufficient

Both tools solve the same problem: reducing AI token costs from verbose CLI output. snip's bet is that extensibility wins. When anyone can write a filter in 5 minutes without touching Go or Rust, the filter ecosystem grows faster.

Development

make build        # static binary (CGO_ENABLED=0)
make test         # all tests with coverage
make test-race    # race detector
make lint         # go vet + golangci-lint
make install      # install to $GOPATH/bin

Documentation

Full documentation is available on the Wiki:

Installation — Homebrew, Go, binaries (macOS/Linux/Windows), from source
Integration — Claude Code, Cursor, Copilot, Gemini, Kilo Code, Antigravity, and more
Gain Dashboard — Token savings reports and analytics
Filters — Built-in filters, custom filters
Filter DSL Reference — All 19 pipeline actions
Configuration — TOML config, environment variables
Architecture — Design decisions, internals
Contributing — Dev setup, adding filters, conventions

Credits

Inspired by rtk (Rust Token Killer) by the rtk-ai team. rtk proved that filtering shell output before it reaches the LLM context window is a powerful idea for cutting AI coding costs. snip rebuilds the concept in Go with a focus on extensibility -- declarative YAML filters that anyone can write without touching the codebase.

License

MIT

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snip - Reduce LLM Token Usage by 60-90%

Quick Start

How It Works

Token Savings by Command

Installation

Homebrew (recommended)

From GitHub Releases

From source

Supported AI Tools

Claude Code

Cursor

Copilot / Gemini / Codex / Windsurf / Cline / Kilo Code / Antigravity

OpenCode

OpenClaw

Aider

Standalone

Usage

Filters

126 Built-in Filters

19 Pipeline Actions

Custom Filters

Configuration

Multiple Filter Directories

Environment Variable Expansion

Design

Design Philosophy

Development

Documentation

Credits

License

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README.md

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snip - Reduce LLM Token Usage by 60-90%

Quick Start

How It Works

Token Savings by Command

Installation

Homebrew (recommended)

From GitHub Releases

From source

Supported AI Tools

Claude Code

Cursor

Copilot / Gemini / Codex / Windsurf / Cline / Kilo Code / Antigravity

OpenCode

OpenClaw

Aider

Standalone

Usage

Filters

126 Built-in Filters

19 Pipeline Actions

Custom Filters

Configuration

Multiple Filter Directories

Environment Variable Expansion

Design

Design Philosophy

Development

Documentation

Credits

License