{
  "schema": "tesign-radar/item/1",
  "generated_at": "2026-09-17T01:56:13.055Z",
  "lang": "en",
  "slug": "caveman",
  "url": "https://tesign.com/en/item/caveman/",
  "alternates": {
    "ko": {
      "html": "https://tesign.com/item/caveman/",
      "json": "https://tesign.com/item/caveman/index.json",
      "markdown": "https://tesign.com/item/caveman/index.md"
    },
    "en": {
      "html": "https://tesign.com/en/item/caveman/",
      "json": "https://tesign.com/en/item/caveman/index.json",
      "markdown": "https://tesign.com/en/item/caveman/index.md"
    }
  },
  "name": "caveman",
  "use_label": "Token savings for agent users",
  "one_liner": "Cuts an agent's token use by stripping prompts down to bare words.",
  "text": {
    "why": "The longer an agent's replies, the more tokens and cost go with them. caveman is a Claude Code skill that strips the agent's replies down to bare words, so the same content comes back in far less text. The repository claims a 65% token reduction, but that figure is its own. Written in Go; the skill is MIT and the bundled proxy engine BSL-1.1.",
    "take": "A skill for output and a proxy for input; admitting that savings vary by case is what makes it credible.",
    "build": [
      "A setting that trims output tokens on repeat jobs with long replies",
      "A cost experiment that measures the saving on the team's own tasks"
    ],
    "who": [
      {
        "role": "Solo developer",
        "situation": "sees tokens leaking into long agent replies"
      },
      {
        "role": "Team manager",
        "situation": "measures, then trims, token cost on repeat jobs"
      }
    ],
    "start": [
      {
        "command": false,
        "text": "Skill (MIT):"
      },
      {
        "command": true,
        "text": "npx skills add JuliusBrussee/caveman"
      },
      {
        "command": false,
        "text": "Proxy (Node.js 22.13+):"
      },
      {
        "command": true,
        "text": "npm install -g @caveman-ai/cli && caveman setup --install"
      },
      {
        "command": true,
        "text": "caveman claude"
      }
    ],
    "caveat": [
      "The skill only shortens output, and its rules cost 1 to 1.5k input tokens per turn",
      "On already-terse work it can cost more, as the README says",
      "The skill is MIT; the proxy engine is BSL-1.1 (hosting for others needs a licence)"
    ]
  },
  "cta": {
    "type": "use_package",
    "label": "USE PACKAGE",
    "url": "https://docs.caveman.so/docs/quickstart"
  },
  "ready": "developer",
  "categories": [
    "ai",
    "dev-tools"
  ],
  "categories_confirmed": true,
  "tags": [
    "tokens",
    "prompting",
    "agent-skills"
  ],
  "platform": [
    "cli"
  ],
  "license": {
    "spdx": null,
    "scope": "unknown",
    "scope_text": "Unconfirmed — check before use.",
    "url": "https://github.com/juliusbrussee/caveman?tab=License-1-ov-file",
    "note": null,
    "open_source": null
  },
  "language": "Go",
  "source_urls": {
    "canonical": "https://docs.caveman.so/docs/quickstart",
    "github": "https://github.com/juliusbrussee/caveman",
    "huggingface": null,
    "app_store": null,
    "sightings": [
      {
        "source": "github",
        "url": "https://github.com/juliusbrussee/caveman",
        "posted_at": "2026-09-12T22:00:00.000Z",
        "hn_url": null
      }
    ]
  },
  "numbers": {
    "as_of": "2026-09-16T21:00:00.000Z",
    "stars": 105788,
    "stars_unit": "GitHub stars",
    "stars_checked_at": "2026-09-15T19:34:06.531Z",
    "stars_observed_since_check": 28,
    "star_delta_24h": 23,
    "star_delta_7d": 222,
    "star_delta_30d": 543,
    "star_delta_unit": "GitHub stars gained in the window, GH Archive events summed to as_of",
    "spark_14d": [
      6,
      140,
      97,
      65,
      6,
      2,
      2,
      10,
      86,
      58,
      22,
      4,
      19,
      23
    ],
    "hf_likes": null,
    "hf_likes_observed_at": null,
    "hn_points": null,
    "hn_points_observed_at": null,
    "store": null,
    "method": "Star total = the value last checked on GitHub (stars_checked_at) + increases observed via GH Archive since. The 24h · 7d · 30d gains are GH Archive hourly events summed to the reference time (as_of). No score of ours."
  },
  "ranks": {
    "as_of": "2026-09-16T21:00:00.000Z",
    "all_time": 32,
    "rising": {
      "24h": null,
      "7d": 49,
      "30d": 29
    },
    "categories": [
      {
        "category": "dev-tools",
        "label": "DEV TOOLS",
        "rank": 6
      }
    ]
  },
  "activity": {
    "pushed_at": "2026-09-15T17:02:54.000Z",
    "owner_type": "User",
    "open_issues": 119,
    "contributors": 56,
    "releases_count": 35,
    "latest_release": {
      "tag": "v2.7.0",
      "published_at": "2026-09-15T04:01:16.000Z",
      "prerelease": false
    },
    "checked_at": "2026-09-15T19:34:06.531Z",
    "core_checked_at": "2026-09-15T19:34:06.531Z"
  },
  "signals": [],
  "images": {
    "og": "https://tesign.com/img/caveman-ade8e8e709.png",
    "cover": "https://tesign.com/img/caveman-ade8e8e709.png",
    "cover_width": 1254,
    "cover_height": 806,
    "gallery": [
      "https://tesign.com/img/caveman-ade8e8e709.png",
      "https://tesign.com/img/caveman-185d066ee3.png"
    ],
    "alt": "The 'Caveman Learn' report screen: saved-token figures and bars, a list of token sinks and a session-context-depth bar chart.",
    "tier": 2
  },
  "dates": {
    "first_seen_at": "2026-09-13T07:43:34.171Z",
    "source_created_at": "2026-04-04T10:03:00.000Z",
    "discovery_hours": 3885.676158611111,
    "launch_signal_at": "2026-09-12T22:00:00.000Z",
    "kept_at": "2026-09-13T11:32:21.747Z",
    "first_published_at": "2026-09-13T11:32:21.881Z",
    "updated_at": "2026-09-15T04:36:56.817Z",
    "ingestion_mode": "live"
  },
  "notes": [
    "This file was produced by the same build, from the same data, as the tesign.com item page. The text is editorial; the numbers are stored observations.",
    "null in the JSON means not observed — never zero. The Markdown writes [unconfirmed] for it.",
    "Star total = the value last checked on GitHub (stars_checked_at) + increases observed via GH Archive since. The 24h · 7d · 30d gains are GH Archive hourly events summed to the reference time (as_of). No score of ours.",
    "A summary, not legal advice."
  ]
}