--- title: Claude Code's system tools are SO BLOATED | daily.dev description: Claude Code ships with a heavily bloated system prompt containing thousands of unused tokens — tools for workflow, design sync, monitoring, cron scheduling,... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/claude-code-s-system-tools-are-so-bloated-gvzyp3uz1 twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Claude Code's system tools are SO BLOATED | daily.dev og:description: Claude Code ships with a heavily bloated system prompt containing thousands of unused tokens — tools for workflow, design sync, monitoring, cron scheduling,... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/claude-code-s-system-tools-are-so-bloated-gvzyp3uz1 og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/gVZyP3UZ1.png og:image:alt: Claude Code's system tools are SO BLOATED og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Claude Code's system tools are SO BLOATED **[Matt Pocock](https://daily.dev/sources/mattpocock)** · 1 min read · 1 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Claude Code ships with a heavily bloated system prompt containing thousands of unused tokens — tools for workflow, design sync, monitoring, cron scheduling, remote control, connectors, and artifacts. By disabling unused tools via the global settings.json file, the system prompt can be trimmed from ~25K tokens down to ~8K. Fewer tokens in the system prompt means less distraction for the agent and better output quality. Using a proxy to inspect what's actually being sent is recommended before tuning. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### how do I reduce the size of Claude Code's system prompt Disable unused built-in tools and bundled skills through the global settings.json file. Turning off features like plan mode control, the ask-user-question tool, cron scheduling, dynamic workflows, remote control, Claude AI connectors, and artifacts removes their tool definitions from the system prompt entirely, cutting overhead from around 25K tokens down to roughly 8K. _Developers tuning Claude Code's token footprint can compare configuration tricks like this on daily.dev._ ### why is Claude Code using so many tokens per request A large portion of the token cost comes from unused system tool definitions bundled by default, such as design sync, workflow management, monitoring, remote control, and AI connectors. These can account for 8,000 to 10,000 tokens per request even when a user never invokes them, since the tool definitions are always included in the system prompt unless explicitly disabled. _Anyone chasing leaner AI agent prompts can track token-saving techniques like this on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [GitHub - drona23/claude-token-efficient: Universal CLAUDE.md - cut Claude output tokens by 63%. Drop-in. No code changes.](https://daily.dev/posts/github---drona23-claude-token-efficient-universal-claude-md---cut-claude-output-tokens-by-63-drop-cba3nnscu) · Hacker News · 3 upvotes · 0 comments - [7 ways I make Claude Code use fewer tokens without hurting the results](https://daily.dev/posts/7-ways-i-make-claude-code-use-fewer-tokens-without-hurting-the-results-s1mmfwq7r) · XDA Developers · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Audit your Agent files](https://daily.dev/posts/audit-your-agent-files-5pwynuy9w) · Addy Osmani · 9 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#ai-coding](https://daily.dev/tags/ai-coding), [#claude-code](https://daily.dev/tags/claude-code), [#prompt-engineering](https://daily.dev/tags/prompt-engineering), [#context-engineering](https://daily.dev/tags/context-engineering) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/claude-code-s-system-tools-are-so-bloated-gvzyp3uz1) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Claude Code's system tools are SO BLOATED","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/claude-code-s-system-tools-are-so-bloated-gvzyp3uz1","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/claude-code-s-system-tools-are-so-bloated-gvzyp3uz1"},"datePublished":"2026-07-16T10:45:54.785Z","dateModified":"2026-09-14T09:16:07.748Z","description":"Claude Code ships with a heavily bloated system prompt containing thousands of unused tokens — tools for workflow, design sync, monitoring, cron scheduling,...","image":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/oLx4yCbeklQ/sddefault.jpg","thumbnailUrl":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/oLx4yCbeklQ/sddefault.jpg","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Matt Pocock","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Matt Pocock","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--9QIam1r2--/f_auto/v1726499589/logos/mattpocock","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/mattpocock"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/claude-code-s-system-tools-are-so-bloated-gvzyp3uz1","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":1},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"ai-coding,claude-code,prompt-engineering,context-engineering","timeRequired":"PT1M","video":{"@type":"VideoObject","name":"Claude Code's system tools are SO BLOATED","description":"Claude Code ships with a heavily bloated system prompt containing thousands of unused tokens — tools for workflow, design sync, monitoring, cron scheduling,...","thumbnailUrl":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/oLx4yCbeklQ/sddefault.jpg","uploadDate":"2026-07-16T10:45:54.785Z","duration":"PT1M","url":"https://api.daily.dev/r/gVZyP3UZ1","embedUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/embed/oLx4yCbeklQ"}} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Matt Pocock","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/mattpocock"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Claude Code's system tools are SO BLOATED"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/claude-code-s-system-tools-are-so-bloated-gvzyp3uz1#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"how do I reduce the size of Claude Code's system prompt","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Disable unused built-in tools and bundled skills through the global settings.json file. Turning off features like plan mode control, the ask-user-question tool, cron scheduling, dynamic workflows, remote control, Claude AI connectors, and artifacts removes their tool definitions from the system prompt entirely, cutting overhead from around 25K tokens down to roughly 8K. Developers tuning Claude Code's token footprint can compare configuration tricks like this on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"why is Claude Code using so many tokens per request","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"A large portion of the token cost comes from unused system tool definitions bundled by default, such as design sync, workflow management, monitoring, remote control, and AI connectors. These can account for 8,000 to 10,000 tokens per request even when a user never invokes them, since the tool definitions are always included in the system prompt unless explicitly disabled. Anyone chasing leaner AI agent prompts can track token-saving techniques like this on daily.dev."}}]} ```