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A free GitHub skill cuts your Claude token use by 75% — just by making it talk like a caveman. Same answer. A quarter of the words. None of the burnt credits.
The Problem
Opus 4.7 is the smartest model Claude has ever shipped. It’s also burning through usage limits in a way 4.6 never did. Long, polished, over-explained answers eat tokens fast.
A developer named Julius Brussee built a free GitHub skill called caveman with the tagline “why use many token when few token do trick.” It rewrites Claude’s responses in caveman language. Same useful answer, way fewer words.
What It Looks Like
Before
“Certainly! I’d be happy to help you with that. The next step you’ll want to take is to navigate over to your settings menu and toggle the option on.”
After (Full Mode)
“Next step. Open settings. Toggle on.”
Same answer. About a quarter of the tokens. Across hundreds of conversations, that adds up to entire days of extra usage.
Pick Your Mode3 Intensity Levels
Lite
Keeps full sentences and articles, just removes filler and corporate-speak. Easiest to read, smallest token savings. Good if you’re sharing Claude’s output with other people.
Full — The Sweet Spot
Drops articles, uses short fragments, swaps in shorter synonyms. ~75% token reduction. Still completely readable. This is the one most people should use.
Ultra
Maximum compression. Abbreviates common terms (DB, auth, config, fn), strips conjunctions, uses arrows for cause-and-effect (X → Y). Highest savings, takes a second to read. Use when you’re grinding through high-volume work.
Switch Modes Anytime
Type /caveman lite, /caveman full, or /caveman ultra to change modes mid-conversation. Type “stop caveman” or “normal mode” to turn it off.
Install2 Ways Depending on Your Setup
If You Use Claude Code
One command in your terminal:
npx skills add JuliusBrussee/caveman
Done. Caveman activates automatically. Toggle modes with /caveman full.
If You Use Claude.ai
1. Go to the GitHub repo: github.com/JuliusBrussee/caveman
2. Open the file at skills/caveman/SKILL.md and copy the contents
3. In Claude.ai, go to Settings → Customize → Skills
4. Click Upload Skill and paste the SKILL.md content
5. Done — activate it in any chat with /caveman full
Safety First
Before installing any GitHub skill, run it through your Malware Finder skill (or paste the SKILL.md into Claude and ask “is this safe to install?”). Caveman is open source with thousands of stars, but always verify before adding any skill from the internet.
This is one skill. The Weekend Bootcamp shows you how to set up Claude as a complete operating system for your specific job — Projects, Skills, connectors, scheduled tasks — all wired together in one weekend.