⚡RTK
CLI proxy that reduces LLM token consumption by 60-90% on common dev commands. Single Rust binary, zero dependencies
⭐ Hugely popular: 76k stars, gaining about 1k a week
View on GitHub ↗repo profile
momentum
durability
bus factor = how many people it takes to cover more than half the commits (6 months). 1 is a solo project; higher means the work is spread across a team. top-author share is the single busiest author's slice of those commits.
since we covered it
why it's a big deal
- Makes token usage a first-class optimization layer in AI workflows.
- Sits between tools and models as infrastructure for efficiency.
- Signals a shift toward optimizing AI interaction, not just model performance.
under the hood
- Applies filtering, grouping, and deduplication to command outputs.
- Uses hooks to transparently rewrite commands.
- Provides analytics on token usage and savings.
our take from PR#32, 2026-04-22
star history
- PR#32 27k 2026-04-22
- now 76k + 49k since first covered
curve is sampled from GitHub's star history, plus our own daily readings since we covered it; the dashed stretch is before we first covered it, the solid line since. figures at coverage are the numbers we printed then (approx.), current count is live.
understory
Output and attention are roughly in balance.
- output, commits & releases
- clout, star velocity
output = commits & releases; clout = star velocity, both 0 to 100 monthly indices; the gap where output runs above clout is the understory. The understory →
covered in
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Compression layer for AI-native workflows
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