token-budget-advisor

Token Budget Advisor (TBA)

Intercept the response flow to offer the user a choice about response depth before Claude answers.

When to Use

User wants to control how long or detailed a response is
User mentions tokens, budget, depth, or response length
User says "short version", "tldr", "brief", "al 25%", "exhaustive", etc.
Any time the user wants to choose depth/detail level upfront

Do not trigger when: user already set a level this session (maintain it silently), or the answer is trivially one line.

How It Works

Step 1 — Estimate input tokens

Use the repository's canonical context-budget heuristics to estimate the prompt's token count mentally.

Use the same calibration guidance as context-budget:

prose: words × 1.3
code-heavy or mixed/code blocks: chars / 4

For mixed content, use the dominant content type and keep the estimate heuristic.

Step 2 — Estimate response size by complexity

Classify the prompt, then apply the multiplier range to get the full response window:

Complexity	Multiplier range	Example prompts
Simple	3× – 8×	"What is X?", yes/no, single fact
Medium	8× – 20×	"How does X work?"
Medium-High	10× – 25×	Code request with context
Complex	15× – 40×	Multi-part analysis, comparisons, architecture
Creative	10× – 30×	Stories, essays, narrative writing

Response window = input_tokens × mult_min to input_tokens × mult_max (but don’t exceed your model’s configured output-token limit).

Step 3 — Present depth options

Present this block before answering, using the actual estimated numbers:

Analyzing your prompt...

Input: ~[N] tokens  |  Type: [type]  |  Complexity: [level]  |  Language: [lang]

Choose your depth level:

[1] Essential   (25%)  ->  ~[tokens]   Direct answer only, no preamble
[2] Moderate    (50%)  ->  ~[tokens]   Answer + context + 1 example
[3] Detailed    (75%)  ->  ~[tokens]   Full answer with alternatives
[4] Exhaustive (100%)  ->  ~[tokens]   Everything, no limits

Which level? (1-4 or say "25% depth", "50% depth", "75% depth", "100% depth")

Precision: heuristic estimate ~85-90% accuracy (±15%).

Level token estimates (within the response window):

25% → min + (max - min) × 0.25
50% → min + (max - min) × 0.50
75% → min + (max - min) × 0.75
100% → max

Step 4 — Respond at the chosen level

Level	Target length	Include	Omit
25% Essential	2-4 sentences max	Direct answer, key conclusion	Context, examples, nuance, alternatives
50% Moderate	1-3 paragraphs	Answer + necessary context + 1 example	Deep analysis, edge cases, references
75% Detailed	Structured response	Multiple examples, pros/cons, alternatives	Extreme edge cases, exhaustive references
100% Exhaustive	No restriction	Everything — full analysis, all code, all perspectives	Nothing

Shortcuts — skip the question

If the user already signals a level, respond at that level immediately without asking:

What they say	Level
"1" / "25% depth" / "short version" / "brief answer" / "tldr"	25%
"2" / "50% depth" / "moderate depth" / "balanced answer"	50%
"3" / "75% depth" / "detailed answer" / "thorough answer"	75%
"4" / "100% depth" / "exhaustive answer" / "full deep dive"	100%

If the user set a level earlier in the session, maintain it silently for subsequent responses unless they change it.

Precision note

This skill uses heuristic estimation — no real tokenizer. Accuracy ~85-90%, variance ±15%. Always show the disclaimer.

Examples

Triggers

"Give me the short version first."
"How many tokens will your answer use?"
"Respond at 50% depth."
"I want the exhaustive answer, not the summary."
"Dame la version corta y luego la detallada."

Does Not Trigger

"What is a JWT token?"
"The checkout flow uses a payment token."
"Is this normal?"
"Complete the refactor."
Follow-up questions after the user already chose a depth for the session

Source

Standalone skill from TBA — Token Budget Advisor for Claude Code. Original project also ships a Python estimator script, but this repository keeps the skill self-contained and heuristic-only.