after a few weeks of heavy claude code use in my php portfolio project ⚡the bill started climbing. its not because tasks got more complex - its due to bloated sessions where claude loads all available context and re-reads the same files every exchange claude. md grows longer with each new rule added, meaning youre paying for useless extra data instead of actual work.
i found that tweaking a few settings made quite an impact. ill share what worked best in my case:
1) limit session size: set claude to keep only the most recent exchanges.
2) disable context re-reads unless necessary (though this might affect performance).
3) review and streamline rules regularly - cut out any unnecessary ones.
anyone else running into similar issues with their projects? share your tips!
more here:
https://dev.to/ohugonnot/optimizing-claude-code-token-usage-lessons-learned-3h71