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AI · February 9, 2026

Tilth – I spent tokens so my agents would stop wasting them (~4k Rust)

I'm an "ideas person" who messes around with AI on a low budget. I got tired of watching my tokens vanish and context windows filling up while agents fumbled around trying to find the right thing. Agents don't flail like they used to with shell tools, but there are still weak/blind spots and back-and-forth episodes — especially when using tools in combination/sequence. So I built "tilth" today. Or rather, AI built it — every line is Opus 4.6. I spent a lot of my precious tokens getting it to "not shit" (at least several of the different vendors' AI overlords assure me it's not…

Tilth – I spent tokens so my agents would stop wasting them (~4k Rust) launched on February 9, 2026 with 10 votes, #1,046 of 16,627 launches that month and more than 90% of that year's launches.

Visit github.com ↗Alternativestop 6% of February 2026

In plain words

Tilth is a code-reading tool designed to help AI agents work more efficiently with limited token budgets. It provides code-aware summaries using tree-sitter to generate outlines of function signatures, types, and imports instead of raw file text, allowing agents to drill into specific sections as needed. The tool reduces wasted tokens and context window bloat during agent operations, particularly when combining multiple tools in sequence. Built entirely in Rust using Claude Opus, it targets developers and AI enthusiasts working with budget constraints.

written from the facts on this page · September 2026

From the sources

Smart(er) code reading for humans and AI agents. Reduces cost per correct answer by ~40% on average. Install: cargo install tilth -or- npx tilth - jahala/tilth

In the maker’s words, at launch

I'm an "ideas person" who messes around with AI on a low budget. I got tired of watching my tokens vanish and context windows filling up while agents fumbled around trying to find the right thing. Agents don't flail like they used to with shell tools, but there are still weak/blind spots and back-and-forth…

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