Craft Agents can route Bash tool output through RTK, a local CLI that compresses common development-command output before it is sent back to the model. This is useful when a session runs commands that produce lots of repetitive text: diffs, directory listings, search results, test logs, package-manager output, and build output. RTK does not make commands run faster; it reduces how many output tokens the model has to read and pay attention to.Documentation Index
Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://agents.craft.do/docs/llms.txt
Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
Why enable RTK?
Verbose tool output is one of the easiest ways to burn context. For example:rtk binary to rewrite eligible Bash commands so their output is compacted before it reaches the model.
Typical benefits:
- Lower token usage for common development commands
- More usable context left for code and reasoning
- Less noise from repetitive logs, huge diffs, and long file listings
- Visibility in Settings through RTK’s saved-token / efficiency stats
Requirements
- RTK installed locally as
rtkon your system PATH - RTK version
0.23.0or newer - Craft Agents v0.9.4 or newer
rtk executable on PATH and invokes it locally with telemetry disabled for Craft Agents’ rewrite and stats calls.
You do not need to run
rtk init for Craft Agents. rtk init installs hooks for other tools; Craft Agents calls rtk rewrite directly when the Performance toggle is enabled.Enable RTK in Craft Agents
- Install RTK for your operating system.
- Open Settings → AI → Performance and click Re-check. If you edited PATH environment variables, restart Craft Agents first so the desktop process sees the new PATH.
- Enable Token Optimization.
- Run a command-heavy session.
- Return to Settings → AI → Performance to view saved-token stats once RTK has processed commands.
rtk binary is either missing, below the required version, or not visible on the PATH used by the desktop app.
Install RTK
- macOS
- Linux
- Windows
Homebrew is the simplest option:Or use RTK’s install script:Verify:
Windows PowerShell notes
If you are verifying from Windows PowerShell 5.1:- Use
Get-Command rtkorwhere.exe rtk;whichis not a PowerShell command. - Use
;between commands instead of Bash-style&&.
Troubleshooting
Craft Agents still says RTK is not installed
Craft Agents still says RTK is not installed
Click Re-check in Settings → AI → Performance. If it still fails, verify
rtk from the same operating-system shell Craft Agents can see:- macOS/Linux:
which rtk && rtk --version - Windows:
Get-Command rtk; rtk --version
rtk --version works, but Craft Agents does not enable it
rtk --version works, but Craft Agents does not enable it
Check the version. Craft Agents requires RTK
0.23.0 or newer because it depends on rtk rewrite.rtk gain fails or looks wrong
rtk gain fails or looks wrong
Make sure you installed Rust Token Killer (
rtk-ai/rtk), not the unrelated Rust Type Kit package with the same binary name. The correct RTK supports rtk gain.Do I need to initialize every project?
Do I need to initialize every project?
No. Craft Agents does not require
rtk init; it uses the installed rtk binary directly. You only need rtk init if you also want RTK hooks for another tool that uses RTK that way.