# Mibayy/token-savior [Health: Active]

**Category:** 💰 Finance & Fintech  
**Repository:** https://github.com/Mibayy/token-savior  
**GitHub Stars:** 1146  
**Views:** 2  
**Installs:** 0  
**Upvotes:** 0  
**Directory Page:** https://allmcps.com/mcp/mibayy-token-savior

## Description
Structural code intelligence MCP server for AI-assisted development. Navigate and edit code by symbol names instead of raw text — symbol lookup, dependency graphs, call chains, dead code detection, and structural diff. Replaces grep/cat with semantic tools: 87% token reduction on large codebases.

## Claude Desktop Quick Installation
Install path detected from listing signals. Uses `uvx` (confidence: high):

```json
"mcpServers": {
  "token-savior": {
    "command": "uvx",
    "args": ["token-savior-recall"],
    "env": {
      "WORKSPACE_ROOTS": "",
      "TOKEN_SAVIOR_CLIENT": "",
      "TOKEN_SAVIOR_PROFILE": "",
      "TS_BASH_COMPACT": "",
      "TS_BASH_REWRITE": "",
      "TS_BASH_REWRITE_LOG": ""
    }
  }
}
```

**Requires environment variables:** `WORKSPACE_ROOTS`, `TOKEN_SAVIOR_CLIENT`, `TOKEN_SAVIOR_PROFILE`, `TS_BASH_COMPACT`, `TS_BASH_REWRITE`, `TS_BASH_REWRITE_LOG` — the values above are empty placeholders; fill in real credentials before running (see the repository for what each one is for).

## Documentation & README

<!-- mcp-name: io.github.Mibayy/token-savior -->

<div align="center">

# Token Savior

> One MCP server. One profile. **97.9% on tsbench at -80% tokens.**
> Structural code navigation, persistent memory, and Bash command rewriting for AI coding agents.

[![PyPI](https://img.shields.io/pypi/v/token-savior-recall?color=orange&label=pypi)](https://pypi.org/project/token-savior-recall/)
[![Benchmark](https://img.shields.io/badge/tsbench-97.9%25%20(188%2F192)-brightgreen)](https://mibayy.github.io/token-savior/)
[![Python 3.11+](https://img.shields.io/badge/python-3.11+-blue.svg)](https://www.python.org/downloads/)
[![MCP](https://img.shields.io/badge/MCP-compatible-purple.svg)](https://modelcontextprotocol.io)
[![CI](https://github.com/Mibayy/token-savior/actions/workflows/ci.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/Mibayy/token-savior/actions/workflows/ci.yml)

**[mibayy.github.io/token-savior](https://mibayy.github.io/token-savior/)** -- project site + benchmark landing
Benchmark source + fixtures: not currently published (see *Reproducing the score* below)

---

### Benchmark -- 96 real coding tasks (Claude Opus 4.7, May 2026)

| | Plain Claude Code | With Token Savior |
|---|---:|---:|
| **Score** | 141 / 180 (78.3%) | **188 / 192 (97.9%)** |
| **Active tokens / task** | 17 221 | **3 395** (-80%) |
| **Wall time / task** | 110.6 s | **18.9 s** (-83%) |

Reproduces with the `optimized` profile (single env var). The harness that
produced these numbers is described below; its repository is not public at the
moment, so take the figures as reported rather than as independently verifiable.

**A re-measurement was published here on 2026-08-09 and has been withdrawn on
2026-08-10.** It reported new-token savings from a small replacement harness.
Those numbers did not measure this server at all: across 143 benchmark
sessions, **exactly one** called a Token Savior tool. The client running the
harness had MCP deferred-tool loading enabled, so all 18 tools sat behind a
`ToolSearch` lookup instead of appearing in the model's manifest. The model
never saw them and fell back to `Grep` and `Read` — 66 greps, 30 reads, one
MCP call. What varied between the "profiles" was the size of the cached
prefix, not what the agent did.

The lesson is worth more than the numbers were: **a benchmark of an MCP server
must assert that its tools were actually called.** Ours did not, so it happily
compared two identical agents. That assertion now exists in the harness.

The headline figures above therefore stand as reported and unverified, as
stated in the previous paragraph. Re-measuring them properly is open work.

</div>

---

## Who starred this repo?

[![starscope](https://starscope.duckdns.org/badge/Mibayy/token-savior.svg)](https://starscope.duckdns.org/r/_Na5VtAKXt-H)

On June 30, 2026 GitHub restricted stargazer and watcher lists to repo admins and
collaborators, which broke every "who starred my repo" tool at once. I rebuilt one
that still works, precisely because it only reads repos you own or can push to:
**[starscope](https://starscope.duckdns.org)** ranks the people who starred or
forked your repo by influence, and surfaces their social accounts when their
GitHub profile declares them.

Numbers on this very repo, computed with it: 1,147 people, 27% with a public
social account, and the most followed carries 18,922 followers. The named list is
visible to the repo owner and to nobody else — the [public
page](https://starscope.duckdns.org/r/_Na5VtAKXt-H) shows aggregates only.

---

## What's new

Release notes live where they can't drift out of sync with the code:

- [CHANGELOG.md](https://github.com/Mibayy/token-savior/blob/HEAD/CHANGELOG.md) for the full history
- [Releases](https://github.com/Mibayy/token-savior/releases) for the tagged builds
- [PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/token-savior-recall/) for what `pip` will actually give you

---

## Quick start

```bash
pip install "token-savior-recall[mcp]"
```

Add to your MCP config (e.g. Claude Code):

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "token-savior-recall": {
      "command": "/path/to/venv/bin/token-savior",
      "env": {
        "WORKSPACE_ROOTS": "/path/to/project1,/path/to/project2",
        "TOKEN_SAVIOR_CLIENT": "claude-code",
        "TOKEN_SAVIOR_PROFILE": "optimized"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

That's it. **`TOKEN_SAVIOR_PROFILE=optimized`** ships the Pareto-optimum
config that wins tsbench. It bundles:

- `tiny_plus` (15 hot tools manifest)
- thin inputSchema (-44% manifest)
- capture sandbox disabled
- memory hooks gated for cross-project safety

No other tuning needed.

---

## Activation (Bash compaction + rewriting)

Bash compaction and the PreToolUse rewriter are opt-in. Two env vars and
one CLI call:

```bash
export TS_BASH_COMPACT=1       # PostToolUse output compactors (34 of them)
export TS_BASH_REWRITE=1       # PreToolUse command rewriter (10 rules)

ts init --agent claude --yes   # auto-merge hooks into ~/.claude/settings.json
```

`ts init` is idempotent. It detects existing hook entries, dedups by
`(matcher, command)`, prints a unified diff, and backs up `settings.json`
to `.bak-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS` (UTC) before writing. Supported agents:
`claude`, `cursor`, `gemini`, `codex`, `openclaw`. Pass `--dry-run` to preview, or
`--global` to write the user-level config.

Optional audit log of every rewrite:

```bash
export TS_BASH_REWRITE_LOG=$HOME/.local/state/token-savior/rewrites.jsonl
```

---

## Compactor catalog (34)

| Family | Compactors |
|---|---|
| git | `status`, `diff`, `log`, `push`/`pull`, `commit`, `add`, `fetch`, `checkout`, `branch`, `worktree list`, `stash list` |
| gh | `run list`, `run view`, `pr diff`, `pr view`, `issue view`, `repo view` |
| test/lint | `pytest`, `jest`, `vitest`, `eslint`, `biome`, `cargo test`, `cargo build`/`clippy`, `tsc` |
| cloud | `kubectl get`, `kubectl logs`, `aws sts`, `aws ec2`, `aws lambda`, `aws logs`, `aws iam`, `aws dynamodb`, `aws s3` |
| docker | `docker ps`, `docker logs` |
| packaging | `npm/yarn/pnpm list`, `pip list`/`show` |
| shell catch-alls | `grep`, `find`, `cat`, `curl` |

Each compactor is a pure function (no I/O, no globals) returning a
token-efficient rendering. The dispatcher returns `None` when no matcher
fires, leaving the existing sandbox path untouched. Compound commands
(`cd ... && cmd`) fall through to the last meaningful segment.

> **These run in PostToolUse, so they do not shrink the current turn.** The
> hook fires after the tool has returned; it can add context, not remove it.
> The compact rendering is appended below the raw output, which stays. What
> you gain is persistence: the full output goes to the capture sandbox and
> outlives a context compaction. For an actual reduction of what reaches the
> model, use the PreToolUse rewriter (`TS_BASH_REWRITE=1`) — it edits the
> command before it runs.

---

## `ts_discover` -- find missed TS opportunities

New MCP tool that scans your Claude Code transcripts for patterns where
TS tools would have been cheaper than what the agent actually did.

```python
ts_discover()                       # active project, last 30 days
ts_discover(project=None)           # ALL transcript projects
ts_discover(format="adoption")      # TS vs native ratio per session
ts_discover(format="adoption_json") # same, JSON
```

Findings: Read->Grep->Read chains, sequential `find_symbol`, edits
without `get_edit_context`, `memory_search` without `memory_index`,
native shell on code files. Args are pruned to load-bearing keys
(PII-safe). Streams JSONL with mtime fast-skip.

---

## `ts init` CLI

```bash
ts init --agent claude [--global] [--dry-run] [--yes]
ts init --agent cursor
ts init --agent gemini
ts init --agent codex
ts init --agent openclaw
```

Detects the target agent's settings location, deep-merges the Token
Savior hook config (`PostToolUse` + `PreToolUse`), preserves existing
hooks, dedups, prints a unified diff. Backs up to
`settings.json.bak-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS` (UTC). Re-running is a no-op.

---

## What it does

Claude Code reads whole files to answer questions about three lines, and
forgets everything the moment a session ends. Token Savior fixes both,
plus a third axis: it bounds the noisy Bash output that bloats turn
budgets between code reads — by rewriting the command before it runs.

It indexes your codebase by symbol -- functions, classes, imports, call
graph -- so the model navigates by pointer instead of by `cat`. Measured
reduction: 97% fewer chars injected across 170+ real sessions.

On top of that sits a persistent memory engine. Every decision, bugfix,
convention, guardrail and session rollup is stored in SQLite WAL + FTS5
+ vector embeddings, ranked by Bayesian validity and ROI, and
re-injected as a compact delta at the start of the next session.

And on top of *that*, since v4.1, sit the Bash compactors and the
PreToolUse rewriter. Bench numbers above.

**Which of those two actually shrinks a turn, and which does not.** Measured
2026-08-09, and worth stating plainly because the distinction is not obvious:

- The **PreToolUse rewriter** changes the command *before* it runs, so a
  smaller output is produced and a smaller output reaches the model. This is
  a real reduction in the current turn.
- The **PostToolUse compactors** run *after* the tool has returned. A
  PostToolUse hook can only *add* context; by the time it fires, the raw
  output has already been sent. The compact rendering is appended, it does
  not replace anything. What the compactors genuinely buy you is different
  and still valuable: the full output is preserved in the capture sandbox and
  survives a context compaction, so it can be queried later instead of being
  re-run.

If your goal is a smaller turn, `TS_BASH_REWRITE=1` is the switch that does
it. If your goal is to stop losing command output across compactions, that is
`TS_BASH_COMPACT=1`.

---

## Profile comparison

| Profile | Tools exposed | Manifest tokens | When to use |
|---|---:|---:|---|
| **`optimized`** | **15** | **~1.5 KT** | **Recommended default -- Pareto win on tsbench** |
| `auto` | adaptive | ~1-2 KT | Per-client telemetry-based (experimental) |
| `tiny` | 6 | ~0.6 KT | Minimal hot loop |
| `lean` | 51 | ~4 KT | Legacy -- broader surface |
| **`compact-only`** | **1** | **~0.3 KT** | **Bash layer only (rewriter + capture) -- you already run symbol nav elsewhere** |
| `full` | 68 | ~6 KT | Everything exposed |

You probably want `optimized`.

---

## How it composes with adjacent tools

Token Savior spans several layers, and most neighbouring tools occupy exactly
one of them. Overlap is opt-out per layer, so running both is usually fine once
you disable the half you already have. Thanks to @chirag127 for mapping this
out in #45.

| Tool | Layer | Overlap | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| RTK (repo currently unreachable) | PostToolUse Bash output compression | Same layer, same PostToolUse limit: neither shrinks the current turn | Pick one. `TS_BASH_COMPACT=0` to defer to RTK |
| [serena](https://github.com/oraios/serena) | Symbol-graph navigation | Direct, with `find_symbol` / `get_dependents` | Run TS as `compact-only` if serena is your navigator |
| codebase-memory | Persistent code graph | With the memory engine | `TS_MEMORY_DISABLE=1` |
| Ponytail, Caveman | Output-side compression (code and prose) | Partial, output side only | Complementary, no knob needed |

The layers Token Savior owns that these do not: the PreToolUse Bash **rewriter**
(it shrinks the command before it runs, not the output after), structural
**editing** that keeps the index in sync, and the audit tools
(`detect_breaking_changes`, `find_dead_code`, `analyze_config`).

If you only want the Bash layer, `TOKEN_SAVIOR_PROFILE=compact-only` advertises
a single tool and leaves the compactors and rewriter running. Of those two, the
rewriter is the one that reduces the current turn.

---

## Token savings

| Operation | Plain Claude | Token Savior | Reduction |
|-----------|-------------:|-------------:|----------:|
| `find_symbol("send_message")` | 41M chars (full read) | 67 chars | **-99.9%** |
| `get_function_source("compile")` | grep + cat chain | 4.5K chars | direct |
| `get_change_impact("LLMClient")` | impossible | 16K chars | new capability |
| 96-task tsbench (Opus, plain vs ts) | 17 221 active/task | **3 395 active/task** | **-80%** |
| 7-day Bash output bench (v4.3) | ~30 K tokens/week | ~9.6 K tokens/week | **~20.4 K/week** |

---

## Install

### pip (MCP server)

```bash
pip install "token-savior-recall[mcp]"
# Optional hybrid vector search:
pip install "token-savior-recall[mcp,memory-vector]"
```

### uvx (no venv, no clone)

```bash
uvx token-savior-recall
```

### Claude Code one-liner

```bash
claude mcp add token-savior -- /path/to/venv/bin/token-savior
```

### Development

```bash
git clone https://github.com/Mibayy/token-savior
cd token-savior
python3 -m venv .venv
.venv/bin/pip install -e ".[mcp,dev]"
pytest tests/ -q
```

Suite size: **1898 passed, 2 skipped** on main. CI green on Python
3.11 / 3.12 / 3.13.

---

## Bench it yourself

The compactor numbers above come from replaying real Claude Code
transcripts through the dispatcher. Two scripts live under `scripts/`:

```bash
python3 scripts/bench_compactors_real.py       # match rate + mean savings
python3 scripts/bench_compactors_unmatched.py  # top unmatched commands
```

The first walks `~/.claude/projects/*/*.jsonl`, replays every Bash
output through the registry, and reports per-family savings + overall
match rate. The second buckets the unmatched commands so the next
compactor target is obvious from the histogram.

### Reproducing the tsbench score

**Honest status, checked 2026-08-09:** the benchmark repository these
instructions pointed at returns 404, and so did the BENCHMARK-SUMMARY link
above. Rather than leave a recipe that cannot run, here is what the harness
does, so the number can be judged on its method:

- A generated toy repo (deterministic seed) with four planted traps: a symbol
  defined twice, a three-level call chain, an `a -> b -> c -> a` import cycle,
  and a dead function whose name contains a live one.
- Eight read-only tasks, scored mechanically against an `expected` list and a
  `forbidden` list. The forbidden list is the half that matters: an answer can
  contain the right target *and* the wrong one, and a grader that only looks
  for the right one would score it correct.
- A `sans_ts` control arm running plain Read/Grep/Glob, without which the
  bench compares Token Savior profiles to each other and can never conclude
  "useless" — and therefore never "useful" either.

One trap worth knowing about if you rebuild it: the harness spawns
`claude -p`, which inherits `~/.claude/settings.json`. If any Token Savior
PreToolUse hook is enabled on the machine, it applies to the control arm too
and rigs the comparison. Neutralise them in both arms
(`TS_GUARD_OFF=1 TS_READ_GUARD=0 TS_BASH_REWRITE=0`).

---

## Bonus: `ts` CLI for non-MCP agents

For agents without MCP (Cursor, Aider, Continue, scripts, CI), the `ts`
command exposes a subset of the tools via shell:

```bash
ts use /path/to/project
ts get my_function          # JSON output
ts search 'pattern'
ts daemon start             # ~145ms per call vs 1.5s cold fork
ts init --agent cursor      # wire up Bash hooks for non-Claude agents
```

On Claude Code, prefer the MCP server -- measured cheaper than CLI on
Opus 4.7. The CLI is there for the portability case.

---

## Environment variables

All optional. Values shown as `=1` also accept nothing else — set exactly `1`;
values shown as *bool* accept `1`/`true`/`yes` (and `on` where noted).

### Server & tool manifest

| Var | Default | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| `WORKSPACE_ROOTS` | current dir | Comma-separated project roots to index. Codex trap: Codex whitelist-filters the MCP server environment, so an exported shell variable never arrives — set it in `config.toml` under `[mcp_servers.token-savior] env` (or `env_vars`) |
| `PROJECT_ROOT` | — | Single-root alternative to `WORKSPACE_ROOTS` |
| `CLAUDE_PROJECT_ROOT` | — | Deliberate active-project override (Token Savior's own contract — no host sets it). Registered if valid, wins over every other boot signal |
| `TS_STICKY_ACTIVE` | off (*bool*, `on` ok) | Freeze the active project: explicit `project=` hints and absolute path arguments still route each call, but no call repoints the shared default. For parallel agents in sibling worktrees |
| `TOKEN_SAVIOR_PROFILE` | `full` | Tool profile. `optimized` — the value the quickstart config and `ts init` recommend — ships the Pareto manifest, implies thin schemas, and omits the capture tools from the manifest |
| `TS_THIN_SCHEMAS=1` | off (on in `optimized`) | Strip verbose tool schemas from the manifest |
| `TS_AUTO_HOT_K` | `10` | Hot-tool count exposed by the telemetry-driven `auto` profile |
| `TOKEN_SAVIOR_CHAIN_NUDGE` | on | `0`/`false`/`off` disables chained-tool nudges |
| `TS_MEMORY_DISABLE=1` | off | Disable the memory engine (clean-context workloads) |
| `TS_CAPTURE_DISABLED=1` | off | Skip read-side capture sandboxing and drop the capture tools from the manifest (no profile flips this; `optimized` only hides the capture tools) |
| `TS_CODE_MODE_DISABLE=1` | off | Disable code-mode tools |
| `TS_CODE_MODE_NODE` | `node` | Node binary used by the code-mode sandbox |
| `TS_RESOURCES_DISABLED` | off (*bool*) | Don't expose observations as `ts://obs/{id}` MCP resources |
| `TS_WARM_START` | off (*bool*) | Pre-build project slots at startup |
| `TOKEN_SAVIOR_NO_WARMUP` | off (*bool*) | Skip the `ts_search` embedding warm-up |
| `TS_SEARCH_COLD_DELEGATE` | off (*bool*, `on` ok) | Delegate the cold `ts_search` call to a running `ts` daemon |
| `TS_SOCK` | `/tmp/ts.sock` | Unix socket of the `ts` daemon (CLI + cold delegate) |
| `TOKEN_SAVIOR_CLIENT` | auto-detected | Client label (`claude-code`, …) for telemetry/client detection |
| `TOKEN_SAVIOR_SESSION_LABEL` | — | Free-form label attached to session telemetry |

### Indexing

| Var | Default | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| `INCLUDE_PATTERNS` | built-in list | Colon-separated globs; **replaces** the default include list |
| `EXCLUDE_PATTERNS` | built-in list | Colon-separated globs; **replaces** the default exclude list |
| `EXCLUDE_EXTRA` | — | Colon-separated globs **appended** to the default excludes |
| `TOKEN_SAVIOR_EXCLUDE_PATTERNS` | — | Colon-separated globs appended at the indexer level |
| `TOKEN_SAVIOR_MAX_FILE_SIZE` | `500000` | Max file size (bytes) to index |
| `TOKEN_SAVIOR_MAX_FILES` | `10000` | Max files per project |
| `TOKEN_SAVIOR_WATCHER` | `auto` | File watcher: `auto` / `on` / `off` |
| `TS_WATCHER_FORCE_POLLING` | off | Force the polling watcher backend |

### Claude Code hooks

| Var | Default | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| `TS_CAPTURE_THRESHOLD_BYTES` | `4096` | Minimum tool-output size to sandbox |
| `TS_CAPTURE_REPLACE=1` | off | Strong-replace: tell the agent to ignore the inline output and `capture_get` the URI |
| `TS_CAPTURE_TTL_DAYS` | `30` | Captures older than this are purged on the next `capture_put`; `0` disables the GC |
| `TS_BASH_COMPACT=1` | off | PostToolUse compactors. Preserves output across compaction; does NOT shrink the current turn (see note above) |
| `TS_COMPACT_INLINE_THRESHOLD` | `4096` | Hybrid mode: compact-result size above which the full original is also sandboxed |
| `TS_COMPACT_TINY_THRESHOLD` | `256` | Hybrid mode: compact-result size below which the sandbox is always skipped |
| `TS_BASH_REWRITE=1` | off | Enable the PreToolUse Bash command rewriter |
| `TS_BASH_REWRITE_LOG` | — | JSONL audit log of every rewrite |
| `TS_HOOK_MINIMAL=1` | off | SessionStart memory hook emits only the Memory Index block |

### Memory extras

| Var | Default | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| `TS_VIEWER_PORT` | off | Port for the observation web viewer (unset = disabled) |
| `TS_AUTO_EXTRACT=1` + `TS_API_KEY` | off | LLM auto-extraction of memory observations (Anthropic API key required) |
| `TS_MODEL` | `claude-sonnet-4-6` | Auto-extraction model override |
| `TOKEN_SAVIOR_MEMORY_AUTO_SAVE=1` | off | Auto-save memory observations |
| `TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN` + `TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID` | — | Critical-observation feed |

### Storage, dashboard, debugging

| Var | Default | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| `TOKEN_SAVIOR_STATS_DIR` | `~/.local/share/token-savior` | Telemetry + stats directory |
| `TOKEN_SAVIOR_DASHBOARD_HOST` | `127.0.0.1` | Dashboard bind host |
| `TOKEN_SAVIOR_DASHBOARD_PORT` | `8921` | Dashboard port |
| `TOKEN_SAVIOR_INCLUDE_TMP_PROJECTS` | off (*bool*) | Dashboard also lists projects under temp dirs |
| `TOKEN_SAVIOR_DEBUG=1` | off | Debug logging |
| `TOKEN_SAVIOR_TRACE` | off (*bool*) | MCP request lifecycle tracing |

Not knobs: `CLAUDECODE`, `CLAUDE_CODE_ENTRYPOINT`, `CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR`,
`CLAUDE_CONTEXT_REMAINING_PCT`, `CODEX_*` and `HERMES_*` are read for host/client
detection and boot-time project hints — the environment sets them, you don't.
(`CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR` is what Claude Code actually exports; it always names the
main checkout, never the worktree the session works in, so the launch directory
outranks it when that directory is a linked worktree. `CLAUDE_PROJECT_ROOT`
moved up into the knobs table: nothing sets it but you.)

Naming trap: `TS_PROFILE` in the benchmark snippets is **tsbench's** variable;
the server reads `TOKEN_SAVIOR_PROFILE`.

---

## License

MIT