caveman
CLI ToolJuliusBrussee/caveman
Cut 65% tokens by making AI talk like caveman.
Overview
A skill for Claude Code and other AI coding agents that compresses output tokens by ~65% on average by using concise, caveman-style language. Maintains full technical accuracy while reducing cost and improving speed. Supports multiple compression levels and works with 30+ agents.
README Preview
\n \n\n\ncaveman\n\n\n why use many token when few do trick\n\n\n\n \n \n \n\n\n\n Before/After •\n Install •\n What You Get •\n Benchmarks •\n Full install guide\n\n\n---\n\nA [Claude Code](https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code) skill/plugin (also Codex, Gemini, Cursor, Windsurf, Cline, Copilot, 30+ more) that makes agent talk like caveman — cuts **~75% of output tokens**, keeps full technical accuracy. Brain still big. Mouth small.\n\n## Before / After\n\n\n\n\n\n### 🗣️ Normal Claude (69 tokens)\n\n> "The reason your React component is re-rendering is likely because you're creating a new object reference on each render cycle. When you pass an inline object as a prop, React's shallow comparison sees it as a different object every time, which triggers a re-render. I'd recommend using useMemo to memoize the object."\n\n\n\n\n### Caveman Claude (19 tokens)\n\n> "New object ref each render. Inline object prop = new ref = re-render. Wrap in `useMemo`."\n\n\n\n\n\n\n### 🗣️ Normal Claude\n\n> "Sure! I'd be happy to help you with that. The issue you're experiencing is most likely caused by your authentication middleware not properly validating the token expiry. Let me take a look and suggest a fix."\n\n\n\n\n### Caveman Claude\n\n> "Bug in auth middleware. Token expiry check use `\n\n\n\n**Same fix. 75% less word. Brain still big.**\n\n```\n┌─────────────────────────────────────┐\n│ TOKENS SAVED ████████ 75% │\n│ TECHNICAL ACCURACY ████████ 100%│\n│ SPEED INCREASE ████████ ~3x │\n│ VIBES ████████ OOG │\n└─────────────────────────────────────┘\n```\n\nPick your level of grunt — `lite` (drop filler), `full` (default caveman), `ultra` (telegraphic), or `wenyan` (classical Chinese, even shorter). One command switch. Cost go down forever.\n\n**Speak your tongue.** Caveman keep your language. You write Portuguese, caveman grunt Portuguese. Spanish, French, same. Compress the *style*, not the language. Code, command, e
FAQ (5)
TroubleshootingHow do I fix 404 cave_route_not_found for GET /v1/models through Caveman proxy, causing Hermes to use only 256k context?
Upgrade the Caveman proxy binary to bin-v2.1.0 or later (included in the Caveman 3.2.0 release), then restart the proxy. This release forwards GET /v1/models and GET /v1/models/{id} for OpenAI, Anthropic, and OpenAI-compatible mounts, including /w/<agent>/v1, and selects the adapter by protocol. Verify with:
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $KEY" http://127.0.0.1:8787/w/hermes/v1/modelsIf upgrading is not possible, override the context window in Hermes config.yaml:
custom_providers:
- name: caveman
base_url: "http://127.0.0.1:8787/w/hermes/v1"
context_length: 1000000Remove this override after upgrading so Hermes reads the upstream context_length dynamically. Updating only the npm CLI may not update the proxy binary; run caveman setup --install and restart the proxy manually.
TroubleshootingHow do I fix Hermes agent version drift where installed 0.21.4 exceeds the pinned tested version 0.19.1?
Verify that hermes@0.21.4 wraps correctly, then update tested_agent_version from 0.19.1 to 0.21.4 in agents/profiles/hermes.json. The conformance CI pin is derived from this value and enforced by compile.mjs. If the profile includes last_verified_at and verified_by, update those fields as well, then rerun the conformance workflow.
TroubleshootingHow to fix agent drift when installed pi 1.0.4 exceeds the pinned tested version 1.0.2?
Verify that pi@1.0.4 wraps and passes conformance correctly. Then update agents/profiles/pi.json and set tested_agent_version to 1.0.4; the conformance CI pin is derived from this value and enforced by compile.mjs. If the profile includes last_verified_at and verified_by, update those fields as well, then run the conformance workflow to clear the drift.
TroubleshootingHow to fix Claude agent drift where installed version 2.1.292 exceeds pinned tested version 2.1.289?
Verify the new Claude release works, then update the profile pin. Claude Code 2.1.292 was probed on Node 22.22.0 and launched cleanly; route redirection through ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL to POST /v1/messages?beta=true completed normally. In agents/profiles/claude.json, set tested_agent_version to 2.1.292, then update last_verified_at and verified_by if present. The conformance CI pin is derived from this field and enforced by compile.mjs. The version bump was merged in PR #1196. Note that the install command remains unpinned: npm i -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code.
TroubleshootingHow to fix qwen agent version drift: installed 0.25.0 exceeds pinned tested version 0.24.7?
Verify that qwen@0.25.0 wraps and runs correctly. Then update agents/profiles/qwen.json, setting tested_agent_version from 0.24.7 to 0.25.0. If present, update last_verified_at and verified_by. The conformance CI pin is derived from this field and enforced by compile.mjs, so rerun the agent conformance workflow after the change to clear the drift report.