What about token optimizers?


I was looking into token optimizers for OpenCode and found benchmarks of popular tools: Caveman, Rust Token Killer and Ponytail.

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                ![](https://blog.jetbrains.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/JB-social-BlogSocialShare-1280x720-1-5.png)



            Speaking to AI Agents like Cavemen Saves 65% of Tokens. We Test.
            A paired A/B benchmark of the token-compression skill Caveman on Claude Code, run on SkillsBench: does it actually save tokens, and does it degrade AI agent output quality? Advertised saving: 65%.
                                blog.jetbrains.com


](https://blog.jetbrains.com/ai/2026/07/speak-to-ai-agents-like-cavemen-tosave-tokens/)

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                ![](https://blog.jetbrains.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/JB-social-BlogSocialShare-1280x720-1-7.png)



            rtk Claude Code Token Savings: A Skill Trial Benchmark
            Does "rtk" reduce Claude Code token usage? Part 2 of a series where we take public “token saving” add-ons for coding agents and run the same paired A/B benchmark against each of them. Part 1 was th
                                blog.jetbrains.com


](https://blog.jetbrains.com/ai/2026/07/rtk-claude-code-token-savings/)

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                ![](https://blog.jetbrains.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/JB-social-BlogSocialShare-1280x720-1-10.png)



            Ponytail Skill for Claude Code: Does It Really Cut Tokens
            Part 3 of a series where we take public "token saver" add-ons for coding agents and run the same paired A/B benchmark against each of them. Part 1 was the caveman skill (advertised −65%, measured −8.5
                                blog.jetbrains.com


](https://blog.jetbrains.com/ai/2026/07/ponytail-skill-claude-tested/)

To me the conclusion is that rtk should work, but it does not. Caveman is not automatically activated, but works (-8%). Ponytail got some positive feedback (-10.3%), but it also won't auto activate; it is the first tool in this series that clearly saved money.