Cut your Claude Code token bill. A local gateway compresses context before each request — same model, same answers, fewer tokens. Bring your own key; runs entirely on your machine.
Installation
Launch VS Code Quick Open (Ctrl+P), paste the following command, and press enter.
Cut your Claude Code token bill — without changing how you work.
Decompute runs a lightweight gateway on your own machine that compresses the context Claude Code sends to Anthropic. You pay for fewer tokens on every request, with the same model and the same answers.
🔒 Private by design. Bring your own Anthropic key. Your code and prompts are compressed locally and never touch a Decompute server.
Why Decompute
⚡ Lower cost, same Claude. A native compression core trims redundant context before each request — often 50–90% fewer tokens on code, logs, diffs, and structured data.
🧩 Zero workflow change. Point Claude Code at the local gateway once, then keep using claude exactly as you do today.
🛡️ Yours, end to end. Everything runs locally with your own API key. No prompts, no source, nothing leaves your machine.
📊 See every dollar saved. A live dashboard shows tokens saved and cost avoided — per request and per workload.
Quick Start
When you install the extension, it detects that the Decompute helper isn't set up yet and offers a one-time guided setup:
Click Set Up Decompute (or “Decompute: Set up” in the status bar, or run Decompute: Set Up from the Command Palette).
The wizard walks you through four steps, telling you exactly what to do at each one:
Install the helper — installs the local Decompute gateway (one command, runs in a terminal).
Connect your Claude key — paste your sk-ant-… key. It's hidden and stays on your machine.
Route Claude Code — points Claude Code at the local gateway.
Verify — confirms the gateway is running, then offers a one-click window reload.
Reopen a Claude Code panel — it now routes through Decompute. Run Decompute: Show Usage and Savings to watch the compression live.
That's it. Compression is automatic from then on.
Working from a local checkout? Set decompute.cliInstallCommand to your installer (e.g. bash /path/to/decompute/scripts/install.sh), or click Edit Command in step 1.
Commands
Command
What it does
Decompute: Set Up
Installs the helper (if missing), connects your Claude key, routes Claude Code, and verifies — step by step.
Decompute: Show Status
Gateway, license, and routing status at a glance.
Decompute: Show Usage and Savings
Opens the savings panel — tokens saved and cost avoided.
Decompute: Enable / Disable Routing
Turns gateway routing for Claude Code on or off.
Decompute: Open Dashboard
Opens the live savings dashboard.
Decompute: Activate License
Activates a Decompute Pro license on this device.
Decompute: Configure Gateway URL
Points the extension at a self-managed / hosted gateway (advanced).
Decompute: Check Local Gateway Status
Health-checks a separately installed gateway.
Settings
Setting
Default
Description
decompute.gatewayUrl
http://127.0.0.1:8080
The gateway the extension talks to. Defaults to the local gateway the setup installs; set a self-managed/hosted URL for advanced setups.
decompute.pollSeconds
60
How often the status bar refreshes license/quota.
decompute.cliInstallCommand
(blank)
Override the installer command the setup runs (e.g. a local checkout). Machine-scoped — a workspace can't set it.
decompute.localGatewayUrl
(blank)
Optional URL for the “Check Local Gateway” command.
Privacy & Security
BYOK. You use your own Anthropic key. Decompute never asks for or stores model-provider credentials in the extension.
Local compression. Context is compressed by the gateway on your machine before a slimmer request is forwarded to Anthropic.
Safe configuration. Routing is written to ~/.claude/settings.json only with your consent, atomically, preserving your other settings. The installer runs only from a trusted workspace.
Minimal identity. The extension stores a random device id so the gateway can report license and quota status for this device.
About
Decompute is a cost-control gateway — it optimizes Claude Code traffic, it doesn't host Claude. Anthropic, Claude, and Claude Code are trademarks of Anthropic. Decompute is not affiliated with or endorsed by Anthropic.
