majiayu000 Token Budget Monitor
Purpose
Prevent getting caught at token/conversation limits by monitoring usage and warning proactively. Especially critical during long, tool-heavy conversations.
When to Activate
This skill should load early in conversations and check periodically throughout, especially:
- Long conversations (>50k tokens)
- Heavy tool usage (MCP calls, searches, file operations)
- Multi-hour sessions
- When user mentions "running out of tokens before"
Current Limits (as of October 2025)
Message Limits
- Per conversation: Varies by plan
- Daily: Varies by plan
- Weekly: Varies by plan
Token Limits
- Per message: 190,000 tokens (context window)
- Conversation accumulation: No hard limit, but performance degrades
Monitoring Strategy
Check Points
Claude should check token usage at these intervals:
Every 50k tokens:
- Calculate: Current usage / Time elapsed
- Predict: Time until limit based on pace
- Warn if: Will hit limit before next natural break
Critical Thresholds:
- 🟡 70% of limit: "Heads up - conversation getting long"
- 🟠 85% of limit: "Warning - approaching limit soon"
- 🔴 95% of limit: "URGENT - hitting limit very soon!"
Usage Pattern Analysis
Track These Metrics:
conversation_start_time
tokens_used_so_far
tools_called_count
time_elapsed_hours
Calculate:
tokens_per_hour = tokens_used / time_elapsed
tools_per_hour = tools_called / time_elapsed
# Predict time to limit
remaining_tokens = limit - tokens_used
hours_until_limit = remaining_tokens / tokens_per_hour
Warning Message Templates
Early Warning (70%)
💡 Token Usage Check:
You've used ~X tokens so far (70% of context).
At current pace, you have ~X hours before hitting limits.
Consider: Save important context, prepare to wrap up, or start fresh chat.
Urgent Warning (85%)
⚠️ Token Budget Alert:
You're at 85% of context window.
Estimated time remaining: ~X hours at current pace.
Action: Finish critical tasks, save context, prepare new conversation.
Critical Warning (95%)
🚨 URGENT - Token Limit Imminent:
You're at 95% of context!
Will hit limit in approximately X minutes.
IMMEDIATE ACTION:
1. Save any critical information now
2. Wrap up current task
3. Start fresh conversation
4. Copy important context to new chat
Proactive Triggers
Start-of-Conversation Check
When conversation begins:
- Note start time
- Set baseline (0 tokens)
- Plan check intervals
Mid-Conversation Checks
Every ~30 messages or 50k tokens:
- Calculate pace
- Project time to limit
- Warn if pace is unsustainable
Tool-Heavy Detection
If tools_per_message > 3:
"You're using lots of tools - token usage accelerating!"
If MCP calls > 10:
"Heavy MCP usage - monitor token budget closely"
Working with Your Patterns
Based on your usage, high-risk scenarios:
Long Development Sessions
- Multi-hour conversations about n8n workflows
- Iterative debugging with file operations
- Multiple MCP server interactions
Mitigation:
- Check tokens every 30 minutes
- Break into smaller conversations
- Save context between conversations
Skill Development Sessions (Like This One!)
- Creating/editing skills
- Testing workflows
- Git operations
- File system operations
Mitigation:
- Commit code frequently (saves state)
- Document decisions as you go
- Can resume from commit history
Integration with Other Skills
Works With skill-manager:
When creating skills in long conversations:
- Monitor token usage while developing
- Suggest commits when approaching limits
- Resume skill development in new chat if needed
Works With n8n-flow-builder:
When building n8n workflows:
- Track tokens during workflow design
- Warn before hitting limit mid-deployment
- Suggest saving workflow JSON before limit
Works With mcp-directory:
When using heavy MCPs (GitHub, Linear):
- Warn when loading token-heavy MCPs
- Track cumulative MCP usage
- Suggest lighter alternatives if approaching limit
User Preferences Integration
Kurt's patterns (for personalized warnings):
- Heavy tool user (Desktop Commander, MCPs)
- Long development sessions
- Multi-hour conversations common
- Gets caught at limits frequently
Personalized Strategy:
- Check every 40k tokens (more frequent)
- Warn earlier (at 60% instead of 70%)
- Emphasize "save context" reminders
- Suggest commits/saves for resumability
Implementation Notes
How This Works
- Skill loads at conversation start
- Claude tracks token usage (shown in UI)
- At checkpoints, Claude calculates pace
- Warns proactively before limits hit
Limitations
- Claude can see current token usage
- Cannot see daily/weekly message limits directly
- Must estimate based on user feedback about limits
Current Conversation Status
Token Budget: You have ~190k tokens total per conversation Your Current Usage: ~121k tokens (63%) Status: 🟡 Getting into the caution zone
At current pace:
- Started conversation: ~2-3 hours ago (estimated)
- Token rate: ~40-60k tokens/hour (tool-heavy)
- Projected remaining time: 1-2 hours before hitting limit
Recommendation for This Session:
- We're past halfway point
- Finish current skill work
- Commit everything to git
- Start fresh conversation for next major task
Example Interaction
Claude (checking tokens):
"💡 Token check: We're at ~120k/190k tokens (63%).
At our current tool-heavy pace, we have about 1-2 hours left.
Let's finish the skill-manager enhancement, commit everything,
then start fresh for the YouTube extractor work. Sound good?"
Notes
- Created: 2025-10-18
- Author: Kurt Anderson
- Version: 1.0.0
- Solves: Getting caught at token limits mid-conversation
- Priority: HIGH - User gets blocked by this frequently