# Claude Code Context Diet > Cut the hidden per-request bloat in the Claude Code CLI itself — the tool definitions, skill catalog, and feature clusters that ride along in every API call and that you pay for whether or not you use them. Measure the payload with /context, rank the fat (a proxy log shows which tools/skills cost the most tokens), then trim with settings.json: disable unused feature clusters (bundled skills, workflows, connectors, artifacts, remote control), deny individual tools by bare name, and demote rarely-used skills to user-invocable-only so they stay typable but leave Claude's auto-loaded tool list. Reversible, measured before/after. This is CLIENT-side hygiene (what YOU are billed for as a Claude Code user) — distinct from agent-context-economy, which optimizes an agent YOU build and serve. - Skill: `pooriaarab/claude-code-context-diet` (Agent Skill) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add pooriaarab/claude-code-context-diet` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/pooriaarab/claude-code-context-diet/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: AI & ML - Author: pooriaarab (https://skillmd.com/u/pooriaarab) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/pooriaarab/claude-code-context-diet --- # claude-code-context-diet Every request Claude Code sends carries infrastructure you didn't type: system-tool definitions, the full skill catalog, MCP tool schemas, and feature clusters. It is resident in context on **every turn**, and you pay for it whether or not you use it. On a heavily-extended setup (many plugins, a big `~/.claude/skills` folder, several MCP servers) this can be tens of thousands of tokens before you say a word. This skill is the trim procedure: **measure → rank → cut → re-measure.** Every change is a `settings.json` edit, reversible in one line. **Activate:** "my Claude Code is slow / expensive to start," "what's eating my context window," "trim the system prompt," "I have too many skills/tools loaded," "reduce per-request tokens in the CLI," or after installing a batch of plugins/skills. ## Not to be confused with - **agent-context-economy** — optimizes an agent *you build and serve* (prompt-cache the tool prefix, compress tool results). That's your product's input economy. - **eco-mode** — trims Claude's *output* verbosity. This one is about the **Claude Code client's own resident payload** — the bytes the CLI adds to your requests as a *user* of it. Different layer, different levers. ## Step 1 — Measure first Run `/context`. It breaks the current window down by category (system prompt, system tools, MCP tools, memory files, custom agents, and — crucially — skills). Write the numbers down; this is your baseline. **Never trim on a hunch — trim on a number.** Want per-tool granularity? Point Claude Code at a logging proxy (set the API base URL to a small local script that logs each request body, then forwards it) and rank the tool/skill definitions by serialized size. The biggest single entries are your first targets. ## Step 2 — Read the breakdown honestly Typical fat, largest-first on an extended setup: - **A skill pack you rarely fire.** e.g. a compliance bundle (fedramp/gdpr/hipaa/iso/soc2/pci), a cloud-vendor bundle, a language-specific bundle. Each skill's name + long trigger description sits in context every request. 80 skills × a paragraph each is real weight. - **Bundled skills** shipped with the CLI you never invoke. - **Feature clusters** — workflow/multi-agent tooling, connectors, artifacts, remote control — each contributes tool definitions. - **MCP servers.** Many tools each. (If your client already lazy-loads MCP tool schemas on demand, these are cheap already — confirm before cutting.) ## Step 3 — Cut, in order of leverage All edits go in `~/.claude/settings.json` (global) or a project `.claude/settings.json`. Setting keys evolve between CLI versions — confirm the current names via `/config` or the Claude Code settings docs before pasting. 1. **Disable whole feature clusters you don't use.** One flag drops a bundle of tools: bundled-skills, workflows/multi-agent, cloud connectors, artifacts, remote control. Each is a boolean in settings. Biggest bang, least surgery. 2. **Deny individual tools by bare name.** A `permissions.deny` entry with a bare tool name removes that tool's *definition* from the payload — not just its execution. Use for a handful of specific heavy tools you never call. 3. **Demote skills to typable-but-not-auto-loaded.** A skill override set to *user-invocable-only* keeps `/skill-name` working when you want it, but drops the skill from the list Claude auto-loads and reasons over — so its description stops costing you every request. This is the surgical move for a big skill folder: keep them installed, demote the rarely-used majority. 4. **Uninstall / move truly-dead skills and plugins.** If you'll never type it, remove the plugin or move the skill dir out of `~/.claude/skills`. Zero cost, zero ambiguity. 5. **Prune MCP servers.** Disconnect servers you don't use in this workspace; prefer a client mode that discovers MCP tool schemas on demand over one that resides them all. ## Step 4 — Re-measure and keep the receipt Run `/context` again. Compare to the Step-1 baseline and record the delta (e.g. "skills 41k → 6k, total start 78k → 34k"). If a number didn't move, the flag was wrong — most keys are version-specific, so verify against your CLI version. ## Caveats — don't amputate what you use - **Keep clusters you actually rely on.** Workflow/multi-agent tooling and background jobs look bloated but are load-bearing if you run them. Cut by usage, not by size. - **Demote, don't delete, when unsure.** *user-invocable-only* is reversible and keeps the skill a keystroke away — prefer it over uninstalling. - **Watch prompt-cache warmth.** Shrinking the *stable* resident prefix is pure win; churning settings between every session busts the cache. Set it once, leave it. - **Everything here is one line to undo.** Flip the flag back, re-run `/context`, confirm. ## The one-paragraph version `/context` to get the baseline → find the fattest category (usually an unused skill pack) → disable feature clusters you don't use, deny specific heavy tools by name, and demote the rarely-used skill majority to *user-invocable-only* (typable, not auto-loaded) → `/context` again and keep the before/after. Trim by measured usage, never by vibe; every change is one reversible line.