Terse — Token Optimizer & Agent Monitor for VS Code
Compress AI prompts by 20–40% and monitor every AI agent running in your editor in real time.
Terse brings the full macOS app experience into VS Code: live session monitoring for Claude Code, Copilot Chat, Cursor, Continue, Cline, and Aider — plus a prompt optimizer with 20+ compression techniques, spellcheck, and smart model routing suggestions.
⚡ Agent Monitor
Terse automatically detects AI agents running in your VS Code environment and shows live session stats — no setup required.
Supported Agents
| Agent |
Detection |
Session Data |
| Claude Code |
Process scan |
Live JSONL streaming · exact token counts · cache efficiency |
| GitHub Copilot Chat |
Extension API |
Detected · activity indicator |
| Cursor Agent |
App name / process |
Conversation history · estimated tokens |
| Continue.dev |
Extension API |
Detected · activity indicator |
| Cline |
Extension API |
Detected · activity indicator |
| Roo Code |
Extension API |
Detected · activity indicator |
| Aider |
Process + .aider.chat.history.md |
Conversation turns · estimated tokens |
Live Stats per Agent
- Context fill meter — visual bar showing % of context window used (warning at 60%, danger at 85%)
- Token count — exact (Claude Code) or estimated (others)
- Cost in USD — real-time cost calculated from Anthropic API pricing
- Burn rate — tokens/min based on rolling 5-minute window
- Cache efficiency — % of input tokens served from prompt cache (Claude Code only)
- Activity feed — last 5 messages with role labels (user / assistant / tool)
Auto-Routing Suggestions
Terse analyzes your session and recommends a cheaper model when appropriate:
- Short/simple sessions → "Route to Haiku for 80% cost savings ($0.80/M vs $3/M)"
- Long context → "Context 85% full — compress or start a new session"
- Low cache hit rate → "Add a CLAUDE.md to improve prompt caching"
- Redundant tool calls → "package.json read 3× this session"
- Large tool results → "3 large tool results — consider truncating output"
Claude Code Hooks
For Claude Code specifically, Terse can install PostToolUse hooks that compress tool outputs before they enter the context window — reducing bloat from large file reads, grep results, and terminal output.
Click Install Hooks on the Claude Code card in the Agent Monitor panel.
🧠 Prompt Optimizer
3 Optimization Modes
| Mode |
What it does |
| Soft |
Contractions + whitespace only. 100% meaning-preserving. |
| Normal |
Removes filler, hedging, politeness, meta-language. Balanced. |
| Aggressive |
Everything in Normal + abbreviations + telegraph-style. Max savings. |
20+ Optimization Techniques
- Filler & hedging removal (
basically, I think that, perhaps)
- Phrase shortening (
in order to → to, make a decision → decide)
- Meta-language removal (
I want you to, the following is, let me explain)
- Question-to-imperative (
Can you explain X? → Explain X.)
- Redundant modifier collapse (
clear and concise → concise)
- Politeness stripping (greetings, apologies, thank-yous in 8 languages)
- Vocabulary simplification (
utilize → use, facilitate → help)
- Passive voice removal
- Self-context removal (
I'm a developer working on… → removed)
- Log & terminal output deduplication
- Stack trace compression (first + last frame only)
- Code signature extraction (declarations only, no bodies)
- Contraction expansion (
do not → don't)
- Numeralization (
twenty → 20)
Spellcheck Pipeline
Every optimization runs through a 3-layer spellcheck:
- 400+ hardcoded coding-domain typos (
fucntion → function, databse → database)
- Hunspell English dictionary via nspell
- Context-aware real-word error correction
Quick Start
- Install the extension
- Sign in via the Terse sidebar (activity bar lightning bolt icon)
- Agent monitoring starts automatically — open the sidebar to see detected agents
For prompt optimization:
- Select text → right-click → Terse: Optimize & Replace
- Or press
Cmd+Shift+O (Mac) / Ctrl+Shift+O (Windows/Linux)
Keyboard Shortcuts
| Shortcut |
Action |
Cmd+Shift+T |
Open Terse panel |
Cmd+Shift+O |
Optimize & replace selection |
Cmd+Shift+Y |
Copy optimized text to clipboard |
Commands
All commands available in the Command Palette (Cmd+Shift+P):
Terse: Show PanelTerse: Optimize SelectionTerse: Optimize & ReplaceTerse: Copy OptimizedTerse: Set Optimization ModeTerse: Toggle Auto ModeTerse: Sign InTerse: Upgrade Plan
Settings
| Setting |
Default |
Description |
terse.mode |
normal |
Optimization mode: soft, normal, aggressive |
terse.autoMode |
false |
Auto-optimize selection as you type (debounced) |
terse.autoReplace |
false |
Auto-replace selection when auto-mode fires |
terse.showStatusBar |
true |
Show token count in status bar |
terse.debounceMs |
600 |
Debounce delay for auto-mode (ms) |
Plans
| Plan |
Features |
| Free Trial (30 days) |
Full access to all features, all agents |
| Pro |
Unlimited optimizations, up to 3 devices |
| Premium |
Unlimited everything, priority support |
Sign in from the sidebar panel. No credit card required for trial.
Your Terse account works across the macOS app and VS Code extension.
Privacy
- Text is optimized locally in VS Code — your prompts never leave your machine.
- Agent monitoring reads local files only (
~/.claude/projects/, Cursor SQLite, etc.).
- Auth and license checks use HTTPS to
terseai.org.
- No telemetry, no prompt logging.
