efficient-coding

# Efficient Coding ## Core Principle Every action has a token cost. The goal is to solve the task with the minimum context needed — not minimum effort, minimum *waste*. Lean context produces faster results and better attention on what matters. --- ## 1. Context — The Biggest Cost Driver Context bloat (sending more than the model needs) is responsible for more wasted tokens than any other cause. Attack it first. **Search before reading:** - Use Grep/Glob to find the exact file and line range before opening anything. - Read only the section you need with `offset` + `limit`, not the whole file. - Never dump entire directories or large files into context speculatively. **Read each file at most once per task:** - If a file is already in context, reuse that knowledge. Don't re-read it. - Exception: re-read only if the file was modified since you last read it. **Phase separation:** - Do discovery (reading, searching, understanding) first, then switch to implementation. - Don't interleave exploration and editing — stale discovery context charges you on every subsequent turn. **Precision over coverage:** - If you only need to understand a function, read that function — not the whole module. - If you only need a type signature, search for it — don't open the file. --- ## 2. Tool Usage — Eliminate Round-Trip Waste **Batch independent calls:** - When multiple files, searches, or commands are needed and don't depend on each other, issue all calls in a single response — not o...