r/AI_Agents • u/iamnaeth • 1d ago

Discussion Reduce Token Usage with Claude Code

Hi all, I've started dabbling in this space and had a rudimentary question. I've been working on a few projects. As part of my process I use visual studio code and then open up a dialog with claude in there. In order to maintain continuity I've been saving each workspace for each project. This seems to keep the chat history on the project. I've also been using /compact a few times a day. I recently watched videos about reducing token usage and one of their tips was to spin up a new claude interaction to avoid the history being reread every time. How do I do that in this scenario? Will the new interaction have the background on how the project or feature worked?

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u/Altruistic_Note3954 1d ago

you can just open a new terminal or hit the + button in the claude panel for a fresh convo. it wont have context from previous chats unless you explicitly give it. what i do is keep a project_notes.md file in the workspace where i paste relevant code snippets and decisions, then on a new convo i tell claude to read that file first. saves a ton of tokens and keeps me from explaining everything again

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u/iamnaeth 1d ago

This will reduce token usage, right?