llmtrim

llmtrim

Local proxy that compresses LLM API traffic so you pay less. Same answers, smaller bill.

−31% input · −74% output · −66% round-trip cost · 112 live A/B cases · ~5 ms/call · no model to load

Using Claude Code ? One install also gets you /sub to serve it through CLIProxyAPI.

Proxy · CLI · MCP · library (Python · Ruby · Swift · Kotlin · JS/WASM)

What it does • Install • Day to day • In action • Works with • Claude Code • Numbers • Config • CLI & library

---

What it does

You run Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, or your own app. Every turn, the tool sends a large request: system prompt, tools, history, raw command output. You pay for every token of that, including the parts that do not help the model.

A 200-line build log with two errors. Tool schemas resent on every call. JSON with hundreds of near-identical rows. That bulk is still billed.

llmtrim sits on your machine as a local proxy, trims the waste, and forwards a smaller request. The reply is unchanged. You keep the same tools and answers; you spend less.

  before:  your tool ───── full request ─────▶  OpenAI / Anthropic / …

◀──────── reply ──────────

after: your tool ──▶ llmtrim ──smaller──▶ OpenAI / Anthropic / … (on your machine) ◀──────── reply ────────── (same answer)

Compression cannot raise your bill or break a request; worst case is zero savings. Everything runs locally, nothing is sent to us. In action →

For Claude Code the same install also wires /sub to route sessions through another subscription. Details →

---

Get started

npm install -g @llmtrim/cli@latest && llmtrim setup

open a new terminal, then keep working

llmtrim status

That's it. setup starts a local proxy and wires your shell. When Claude Code is present, it also turns on /sub. You do not run a separate install for that.

Any tool that honors HTTPS_PROXY works (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Aider, your SDK). GitHub Copilot does not (certificate pinning). Full list →

Other installers (Homebrew, curl, Scoop, Cargo, Docker)

# Linux / macOS

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fkiene/llmtrim/main/install.sh | sh

Windows (PowerShell)

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fkiene/llmtrim/main/install.ps1 | iex

Package managers

brew install fkiene/tap/llmtrim cargo binstall llmtrim scoop install llmtrim docker run -d -p 43117:43117 -v llmtrim-state:/data ghcr.io/fkiene/llmtrim

Full options: INSTALL.md.

Desktop tray (menu bar / system tray)

Menu-bar / system-tray popover with the same savings numbers. Bundled in Homebrew, Scoop, and npm; setup can enable open-at-login. Open with llmtrim tray. On Linux desktops, interactive ensure can fetch the tray binary from the latest release (needs libwebkit2gtk-4.1 and libayatana-appindicator3).

Is this safe?

Same technique as mitmproxy, scoped to LLM API hosts only. setup changes three things; llmtrim uninstall reverses all three:

1. Private CA in ~/.llmtrim/ (name-constrained; cannot intercept your bank or email)
2. Shell env: HTTPS_PROXY + CA trust
3. Login service: daemon at login

No API keys stored (your tool's auth is forwarded). Prompts never touch disk; only anonymous token counts. Recoverable tool results stay in bounded daemon RAM for five hours by default and disappear on restart. Full threat model: SECURITY.md.

llmtrim ca

openssl x509 -in ~/.llmtrim/ca.pem -noout -text | grep -A3 "Name Constraints"

---

Day to day

llmtrim status     # savings + health  (aliases: monitor, gain)

llmtrim update # new release, restart daemon, refresh integrations llmtrim ensure # match the recommended install state on this machine

After setup, update, or ensure, owned Claude Code /sub stays in sync with the binary.

Time series: llmtrim status --daily · --weekly · --monthly · --json · --csv.

---

In action

An agent ran a build. The tool returned 58 lines; two were errors. All 58 would have been billed.

4,662 chars → 978 (−79%). Errors stay verbatim. Repeated INFO lines fold into a template plus the values (lossless when the range is regular).

# before (noise + signal)

[2026-06-13T10:02:00Z] INFO compiling module core::worker::task_0 (incremental) … 28 more near-identical INFO lines … [2026-06-13T10:02:31Z] ERROR src/worker/pool.rs:214: mismatched types: expected usize, found i64 … 25 more INFO lines … [2026-06-13T10:03:01Z] ERROR src/net/conn.rs:88: cannot borrow buf as mutable more than once [2026-06-13T10:03:02Z] INFO build failed, 2 errors

after (errors verbatim; INFO folded losslessly)

[{}] INFO compiling module core::worker::task_{} (incremental) [×30: (10:02:00Z..10:02:29Z step 1s; 0..29)] [2026-06-13T10:02:31Z] ERROR src/worker/pool.rs:214: mismatched types: expected usize, found i64 [{}] INFO compiling module core::net::conn_{} (incremental) [×25: 10:02:32Z..10:02:56Z; 0..24] [2026-06-13T10:03:01Z] ERROR src/net/conn.rs:88: cannot borrow buf as mutable more than once [2026-06-13T10:03:02Z] INFO build failed, 2 errors

Try it on a request body of your own:

echo '{"model":"gpt-4o","messages":[...]}' | llmtrim compress --provider openai

Log folding is one stage. Others kick in on different waste:

[!IMPORTANT]

Compression cannot raise your bill or break a request. Each stage is re-measured with the provider's real tokenizer and undone if it does not save tokens. If the provider rejects the compressed body, the original is resent. Worst case is zero savings.

Existing prompt-cache prefixes (cache_control) are left alone. First-arrival recoverable shaping (llmtrim recall r_…) is off by default; live-zone tool-output windowing still runs, and a re-run of the same tool ships in full. To skip shaping for a command (verbatim stdout, including a terminal trailer), set toolout_passthrough = ["*gpt.sh*"] or prefix the command with LLMTRIM_TOOL_OUTPUT=passthrough. Lines starting with LLMTRIM_KEEP: survive windowing even when the rest is clipped.

All 10 compressors

Stages run in savings order. Nothing under a cache_control marker is rewritten.

Default auto enables each stage only where it pays. safe is lossless-only. Config →

---

Claude Code

When ~/.claude exists, setup, update, and ensure wire /sub (and routed subagents). No separate install command for that.

Subscription reroute (sub) (opt-in; may conflict with provider ToS)

Send Claude Code through CLIProxyAPI instead of Anthropic, or as a fallback hop when the current path fails. Login is CLIProxyAPI's TUI; decide for yourself whether that fits the provider ToS.

llmtrim sub on                  # install + start CLIProxyAPI, enable redirect

llmtrim sub on grok # write opus/sonnet/haiku/fable → that CLI's models llmtrim sub auth # CLIProxyAPI TUI — sign in llmtrim sub models # official + live sidecar models llmtrim sub map on opu