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Estimate the token cost of reading a file or directory before doing it. Use when asking "how many tokens would this cost", "how big is this file in tokens", "is this file too big to read", before reading large files, or when weighing whether to read something with limited context budget remaining.
How this skill is triggered — by the user, by Claude, or both
Slash command
/father-time:context-budgetThe summary Claude sees in its skill listing — used to decide when to auto-load this skill
Estimate how many tokens a file or directory will consume before reading it.
Estimate how many tokens a file or directory will consume before reading it.
Rule of thumb: 1 token ≈ 4 characters (English text/code). This is a rough estimate.
Opus 4.7 tokenizer note: Opus 4.7 uses a new tokenizer that can produce up to 35% more tokens for the same text vs. prior models. If the user is on Opus 4.7, multiply the rough estimate by ~1.35 for a conservative upper bound. Opus 4.6, Sonnet 4.6, and Haiku 4.5 use the older tokenizer.
When the user asks about a file or directory:
wc -c < "filepath"
Or for a directory:
find "dirpath" -type f -exec wc -c {} + | tail -1
Estimate tokens: file_size_bytes / 4 (add ~35% headroom if they're on Opus 4.7)
Show the estimate with context AND model comparison:
File: path/to/file.py
Size: 12,400 bytes
Est. tokens: ~3,100 (~4,200 on Opus 4.7)
Context impact: 0.3% of 1M window
Cost to read (first time / cached):
Opus 4.7: $0.016 / $0.002
Opus 4.6: $0.016 / $0.002
Sonnet 4.6: $0.009 / $0.001
Haiku 4.5: $0.003 / $0.0003
Use these prices per 1M tokens for the comparison:
| Model | Input | Cache Read | Cache Write (5m) | Output |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opus 4.7 | $5.00 | $0.50 | $6.25 | $25.00 |
| Opus 4.6 | $5.00 | $0.50 | $6.25 | $25.00 |
| Sonnet 4.6 | $3.00 | $0.30 | $3.75 | $15.00 |
| Haiku 4.5 | $1.00 | $0.10 | $1.25 | $5.00 |
Opus 4.7 and 4.6 share the same per-token pricing. The 1M-context variants (claude-opus-4-7[1m], claude-opus-4-6[1m], claude-sonnet-4-6[1m]) are also at standard pricing — no long-context premium.
For directories, also show file count and breakdown of largest files.
| Tokens | % of 1M | % of 200K | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| < 1K | 0.1% | 0.5% | Trivial |
| 1-5K | 0.1-0.5% | 0.5-2.5% | Light |
| 5-20K | 0.5-2% | 2.5-10% | Moderate |
| 20-50K | 2-5% | 10-25% | Heavy — consider reading specific sections |
| 50K+ | 5%+ | 25%+ | Very heavy — read only what you need |
--offset and --limit on Read for large filesnpx claudepluginhub afterrealm/father-time --plugin father-timeEvaluates .claude/ directory token efficiency by scanning files, estimating tokens, categorizing load types, detecting issues like long CLAUDE.md or duplicates, and generating scored report.
Guides token-efficient tool patterns: Edit for diffs, Glob/Grep for searches, concise context. Applies always to extend session capacity.
Applies token optimization rules to reduce context usage and response length. Always active, it minimizes file reads, avoids preamble, and batches tool calls.