Agent token overhead

The hidden, fixed token cost an agent harness adds to every model call through system prompts, tool schemas, and injected context — measurable at the wire and a prime target for minimization.

grounded in: trend theme 'Agent transparency & wire-level scrutiny: People are auditing exactly what agent CLIs send over the wire and how much token overhead they carry.'

Connected concepts

Inference economics, Context engineering, Lazy tool loading, Harnessability, Minimal Agent Scaffolding