rtk

High-performance CLI proxy that reduces LLM token consumption by 60-90%

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rtk filters and compresses command outputs before they reach your LLM context. Single Rust binary, 100+ supported commands, <10ms overhead.

Token Savings (30-min Claude Code Session)

Operation	Frequency	Standard	rtk	Savings
ls / tree	10x	2,000	400	-80%
cat / read	20x	40,000	12,000	-70%
grep / rg	8x	16,000	3,200	-80%
git status	10x	3,000	600	-80%
git diff	5x	10,000	2,500	-75%
git log	5x	2,500	500	-80%
git add/commit/push	8x	1,600	120	-92%
cargo test / npm test	5x	25,000	2,500	-90%
ruff check	3x	3,000	600	-80%
pytest	4x	8,000	800	-90%
go test	3x	6,000	600	-90%
docker ps	3x	900	180	-80%
Total		~118,000	~23,900	-80%

Estimates based on medium-sized TypeScript/Rust projects. Actual savings vary by project size.

Installation

Homebrew (recommended)

brew install rtk

Quick Install (Linux/macOS)

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rtk-ai/rtk/refs/heads/master/install.sh | sh

Installs to ~/.local/bin. Add to PATH if needed:

echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc  # or ~/.zshrc

Cargo

cargo install --git https://github.com/rtk-ai/rtk

Pre-built Binaries

Download from releases:

• macOS: rtk-x86_64-apple-darwin.tar.gz / rtk-aarch64-apple-darwin.tar.gz
• Linux: rtk-x86_64-unknown-linux-musl.tar.gz / rtk-aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz
• Windows: rtk-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc.zip

Windows users: Extract the zip and place rtk.exe somewhere in your PATH (e.g. C:\Users\<you>\.local\bin). Run RTK from Command Prompt, PowerShell, or Windows Terminal — do not double-click the .exe (it will flash and close). The full hook system works natively on Windows (and in WSL). See Windows setup below for details.

Verify Installation

rtk --version   # Should show "rtk 0.28.2"
rtk gain        # Should show token savings stats

Name collision warning: Another project named "rtk" (Rust Type Kit) exists on crates.io. If `rtk gain