title: "Anti-Pattern: Token Burning" last_updated: 2026-03-21 status: proven difficulty: intermediate prerequisites:
- Familiarity with agentic tool basics
- Understanding of context windows
Token Burning
What It Looks Like
You never use /compact, you ask the agent to read entire directories "just in case," you include verbose debug logs in the conversation, and you never check /cost. Halfway through a session the agent starts producing incoherent output and you don't know why.
Why Developers Do This
Context windows feel abstract. Tokens are invisible. The tool doesn't stop working when you run out -- it degrades gradually, making the cause hard to diagnose. If you're on an unlimited plan, cost feels irrelevant (but quality still degrades).
Why It Fails
Every agentic tool has a maximum context window. When you fill it with low-value content -- verbose logs, unnecessary file reads, unfocused conversation -- you push out the high-value content the agent needs: your requirements, the relevant code, and its own reasoning. The result is degraded output quality, not a hard error.
The Symptoms
- Agent output quality dropping mid-session with no clear cause
/costshowing unexpectedly high usage- Agent "forgetting" earlier instructions or context
- Sessions that feel sluggish or produce repetitive responses
What to Do Instead
Manage your context window like a scarce resource.
# Wrong: never managing context
claude # start session
# ... 50 prompts later, quality is terrible, context is full
# Right: active context management
/compact # summarize and reclaim context regularly
/cost # check token usage periodically
/clear # start fresh when switching tasks
# Be selective about what the agent reads
claude "Check only src/auth/token.ts for the expiry bug"
# not
claude "Read the entire src/ directory and find any bugs"
Use /compact proactively after completing each sub-task, not just when things break. Check /cost periodically. Start new sessions for unrelated tasks.