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Claude Code token usage: 98% cache reads, 0.37% output

By PulseAugur Editorial · [1 sources] ·

A user discovered that 98.1% of the tokens processed by Claude Code over a 30-day period were for cache reads, with only 0.37% attributed to the model's actual output. This finding emerged after the user built a tool to track token usage, revealing that each request resends the entire conversation history, which is then served cheaply from Anthropic's prompt cache. The user also detailed how Claude Code stores session data in JSONL files and provided a Python script to accurately count tokens, avoiding overcounting due to how replies are logged. AI

IMPACT Highlights potential inefficiencies in LLM token management and cost structures for users.

RANK_REASON User-generated analysis of a product's operational details.

Read on Towards AI →

AI-generated summary · Google Gemini · from 1 sources. How we write summaries →

Claude Code token usage: 98% cache reads, 0.37% output

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4 / 100
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Commentary
User-generated analysis of a product's operational details.
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Only one publisher covered this so far. Single-source stories can still rank when the publisher is high-authority, but they lack cross-source corroboration.
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infra, product
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High
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Breaking (< 6h)
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Full methodology in our editorial standards.

COVERAGE [1]

  1. Towards AI TIER_1 English(EN) · Kushal Banda ·

    I Counted 30 Days of My Claude Code Tokens. 98% Were Cache Reads.

    <h4><em>What Claude Code writes to your disk, how to add it up without counting twice, and where your plan limits live.</em></h4><p>I pay a flat monthly fee for Claude, so for months I never thought about tokens. Then I built a small menu bar app that counts them, pointed it at m…

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