TutorialsAssignment: Find where you waste the most tokens, then fix it
Answer one question — where do you currently waste the most tokens — then install a tool from the course and fix it, with a screenshot.
Objective
Apply the audit method from class to your own real usage:
- Find where you currently waste the most tokens.
- Use a tool recommended in the course to fix the pain point in that scenario.
What earns marks is not how many tools you installed, but that you found one specific leak and actually fixed it.
Requirements
Submit exactly two things: a diagnosis (where your biggest leak is) and one screenshot after installing or using a tool. Both are required — missing one means the assignment is not complete.
- Be specific about the scenario: do not just write the context is too long. Say which task, roughly how many rounds, and what you were doing.
- Screenshot required: the interface after installing the tool — version number, install success message, a stats page such as
rtk gain, anything works. - Format: one document, or paste directly into the submission area; within two screens, no long screenshots.
- Deadline: within 48 hours of this lesson ending, based on the timestamp shown in the submission area.
Desensitize first: screenshots must not contain client names, company names, internal URLs, API keys or real accounts.
Part 1 · Where you waste tokens
1. Run the four questions as a coarse filter
Against the 30-second self-check from lesson three, tick whichever fits you (multiple is fine, but mark the worst one):
- Context bloat: a session over 10 rounds, over 15K tokens, or several unrelated tasks mixed together
- Tool overload: unnecessary Skills and MCPs installed, low cache hits, oversized tool definitions
- Verbose output: no format or count specified, long explanations, you needed a third of it
- Model overkill: the strongest model or highest reasoning effort on simple tasks
2. Write the biggest leak concretely
| Item | Your answer |
|---|---|
| What is your most frequent task, in one sentence | |
| How you actually used AI for it (session length, what you pasted, what you asked for) | |
| Which block you suspect the money went to (input / output / history / tool definitions / tool results / system prompt) | |
| What evidence makes you call it the biggest leak |
This is the easiest place to slide into feelings. Write it as evidence instead — for example, every time I debug a production issue I paste several hundred log lines and only look at the last 20, or this session has gone 30-plus rounds, starting with code changes and ending with a weekly report.
Part 2 · Install a tool and fix it
Pick one tool from those mentioned in class, install it, and point it at the pain point you identified.
| Item | Your answer |
|---|---|
| Which category you chose (finding code / compressing output / managing context / seeing consumption) | |
| Tool name and version | |
| How you installed it (command or download source) | |
| The specific scenario you used it on | |
| Before vs after: the difference you observed (numbers, length, time — anything) |
Screenshot requirements
| Must show | Why |
|---|---|
| Install success or version info | Proves the tool is actually installed |
| Real usage effect | Command output, a stats page, a comparison — anything works |
| A recognizable date | Taken today, not an old screenshot |
If none of the tools fit your scenario: substitute the manual filtering route — for example, instead of pasting logs straight into the AI, filter them down to under 50 lines with grep or tail, and screenshot the before-and-after length. This also counts as complete.
Grading
| Level | Standard |
|---|---|
| ⭐⭐⭐ Excellent | Both items submitted; the leak is concrete (scenario, rounds or volume, evidence); the tool is genuinely installed with a before-and-after difference; you can state how you will keep it up |
| ⭐⭐ Good | Both items submitted; the leak is concrete; the screenshot shows the tool used in a real scenario |
| ⭐ Pass | Both items submitted; a real leak identified and a tool installed |
The two most common reasons for missing ⭐⭐⭐ are writing the leak as a feeling (I think my context is messy) and a screenshot that only shows the install screen with no real usage.
Submission
- Upload a screenshot of each finished assignment to the website for submission.
- Pick the piece you are happiest with: post it in the course group so everyone can see your workflow.
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