ashlr-plugin
Cut Claude Code token usage by −57% on real codebases.TS −62% · Python −65% · Rust −44% — measured on
vercel/ai,pandas, andtokio. (methodology)
40 MCP tools that replace Claude Code's built-in Read / Grep / Edit / Bash and friends with versions that return less without losing what matters. PreToolUse hooks redirect native tool calls automatically (ASHLR_HOOK_MODE=redirect), so existing prompts get the savings with zero retraining.
# macOS / Linux
curl -fsSL plugin.ashlr.ai/install.sh | bash
# Windows (PowerShell)
irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ashlrai/ashlr-plugin/main/docs/install.ps1 | iex
Landing page: plugin.ashlr.ai · Core library: @ashlr/core-efficiency · License: MIT
Tested on: Ubuntu 22.04 · macOS 14 (Sonoma) · Windows Server 2022 · TypeScript hooks (no bash required)
What's new in v1.22
- Hybrid LLM summarization — Anthropic Haiku 4.5 default → ONNX offline → local LM Studio opt-in. Real summarization without your own GPU.
- Redirect mode default — PreToolUse hooks now redirect native
Read/Grep/Edit/Write/MultiEdit/NotebookEdit/WebSearch/Task*to ashlr equivalents instead of just nudging. - Privacy by default — telemetry off, explicit opt-in only.
Permissions — stop the prompts first
Run this once after install so Claude Code stops asking on every tool call:
/ashlr-allow
That adds ashlr MCP wildcards to permissions.allow in ~/.claude/settings.json. It is idempotent. Run /reload-plugins after changing permissions, or fully quit and restart Claude Code if reload is unavailable.
10-second demo
# 1. Install
curl -fsSL plugin.ashlr.ai/install.sh | bash
# Inside Claude Code:
/plugin marketplace add ashlrai/ashlr-plugin
/plugin install ashlr@ashlr-marketplace
# 2. Use — read a large file (raw would be ~8,400 tokens)
ashlr__read { "path": "src/server.ts" }
# Returns snipCompact view: head + tail, elided middle — ~1,700 tokens
# 3. Check savings
/ashlr-savings
Session savings · ashlr-plugin v1.29.0
────────────────────────────────────────
ashlr__read 6 calls −42,180 tok $0.13
ashlr__grep 3 calls −11,040 tok $0.03
ashlr__edit 2 calls −3,200 tok $0.01
─────────────────────────────────────────────
Session total −56,420 tok $0.17
Lifetime total −284,900 tok $0.86
7-day sparkline ▁▂▃▃▅▆█
What you get
Core efficiency tools (replace built-ins with lower-token equivalents):
| MCP tool | Description |
|---|---|
ashlr__read |
snipCompact + LLM summary on files > 16 KB (Anthropic Haiku 4.5 default, ONNX/local fallback). Mean −82.1% on the v1.22 bench. Line numbers preserved on code files. |
ashlr__grep |
Genome-aware RAG when .ashlrcode/genome/ or cloud genome exists; ripgrep fallback with LLM summary. |
ashlr__edit |
In-place search/replace — returns diff summary only, not the full file. Levenshtein candidates on miss. |
ashlr__edit_structural |
AST-aware rename (Unicode identifiers: café, π, CJK) + cross-file rename with anchorFile + maxFiles + shadowing guard + dryRun + extract-function with return-value detection (0 / 1 / N outputs). .ts/.tsx/.js/.jsx. |
ashlr__multi_edit |
Batch multiple search/replace edits in one call. |
ashlr__savings |
Live token-savings dashboard: session + lifetime + per-tool breakdown. |
Shell, data, and web tools:
| MCP tool | Description |
|---|---|
ashlr__bash |
Shell with auto-compression + pluggable summarizer registry (servers/_bash-summarizers-registry.ts) covering git log/git diff/git show, ls, ps, npm ls, unified test-runner output, tsc, and npm/bun/yarn/pnpm installs. Long-running commands survive timeouts via process-group SIGKILL. |
ashlr__bash_start / _tail / _stop / _list |
Long-running background command control plane. |
ashlr__sql |
SQLite + Postgres one-shot. explain and schema modes. LLM summary on 100+ row results. |
ashlr__http |
HTTP fetch with readable-extract (HTML), array-elide (JSON), and private-host safety. |
ashlr__webfetch |
Fetch + extract web pages with token budget. LLM summarization kicks in at 4 KB (web content is denser than code), 100 KB hard cap. |
ashlr__logs |
Tail with level filter + dedupe + LLM summary. |
ashlr__diff |
Adaptive git diff (stat/summary/full) with LLM summary on big diffs. |
ashlr__diff_semantic |
Semantic diff with meaning-aware change grouping. |
ashlr__test |
Structured test-runner output parser — bun/vitest/jest/pytest/go test. Compresses runner noise into one failure block per failure. |
Codebase navigation:
| MCP tool | Description |
|---|---|
ashlr__tree |
gitignore-aware directory tree with per-dir truncation + size/LOC modes. |
ashlr__glob |
gitignore-aware file glob with size/LOC metadata. |
ashlr__ls |
Directory listing with size metadata. |
ashlr__orient |
Codebase orientation: entry points, key files, dependency graph. |
Genome + GitHub:
| MCP tool | Description |
|---|---|
ashlr__genome_propose / _consolidate / _status |
Active genome scribe loop — keeps .ashlrcode/genome/ current as you code. |
ashlr__issue / ashlr__pr |
GitHub issue and PR read ops. |
ashlr__issue_create / ashlr__issue_close |
GitHub issue write ops. Self-approval guard + ASHLR_REQUIRE_GH_CONFIRM=1 opt-in confirmation. |
ashlr__pr_comment / ashlr__pr_approve |
GitHub PR write ops. pr:"current" resolves via gh pr view. No destructive ops (no merge/close/delete). |
ashlr__ask |
Ask a question, get a structured answer with citations. |
See docs/architecture.md for the full tool registry and router layout.
Pro cloud
ashlr Pro connects to a hosted backend at https://api.ashlr.ai, unlockingfeatures that require server-side state:
| Feature | What it does |
|---|---|
| Cross-machine stats | Aggregate token savings across all your machines. GET /v1/stats/aggregate returns machine_count + combined lifetime totals. |
| Hosted summarizer | POST /v1/llm/summarize — cloud inference via xAI Grok-4 Fast Reasoning. Falls back to your local ONNX or Anthropic key when offline. |
| Team genome | Encrypted genome sync across teammates. DEKs wrapped with X25519 — only key-holders can decrypt (/ashlr-genome-team-init). |
Privacy: telemetry is off by default and explicit opt-in only (ASHLR_TELEMETRY=on). The sessionIdis an opaque 16-char hex value per session — never your user identity — andis stored server-side as a SHA-256 hash. File paths and content are neversent. See docs/telemetry.md for the full privacycontract.
Production URL: https://api.ashlr.ai
The /ashlr-doctor command includes a cloud check that pings/healthz with a 3-second timeout and reports latency. SetASHLR_API_URL_DISABLE=1 to suppress it in offline environments.
Status-line
The status bar shows live session savings with a 7-day Braille sparkline:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ashlr −0 tok $0.00 ▁▁▁▁▁▁▁ idle │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ashlr −12,480 tok $0.04 ▁▂▃▄▅▆█ ██ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ashlr −48,200 tok $0.14 ▁▃▅▆██ ▓▓▓ !! │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘
!! appears when context pressure is high. Install:
bun run ~/.claude/plugins/cache/ashlr-marketplace/ashlr/<version>/scripts/install-status-line.ts
Install
Prerequisites: Claude Code. bun ≥ 1.3 is auto-installed on first MCP server spawn — opt out with ASHLR_NO_AUTO_INSTALL=1. No account, no API key.
# One-liner
curl -fsSL plugin.ashlr.ai/install.sh | bash
Then inside Claude Code:
/plugin marketplace add ashlrai/ashlr-plugin
/plugin install ashlr@ashlr-marketplace
/reload-plugins
Verify with /ashlr-status. If /reload-plugins is unavailable or /ashlr-status does not see the plugin, fully quit and restart Claude Code.
Manual install:
git clone https://github.com/ashlrai/ashlr-plugin \
~/.claude/plugins/cache/ashlr-marketplace/ashlr
cd ~/.claude/plugins/cache/ashlr-marketplace/ashlr && bun install
# Then inside Claude Code:
# /plugin marketplace add ashlrai/ashlr-plugin
# /plugin install ashlr@ashlr-marketplace
# /reload-plugins
Commands
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
/ashlr-help |
List every ashlr slash command grouped by purpose (Onboarding / Token meter / Genome / Upgrade / Diagnostics) |
/ashlr-allow |
Auto-approve every ashlr MCP tool — covers canonical mcp__plugin_ashlr_ashlr__ashlr__* names, run once after install |
/ashlr-status |
Plugin health + MCP server reachability + genome detection |
/ashlr-savings |
Live dashboard: session + lifetime + per-tool + 7-day sparkline |
/ashlr-doctor |
11-check diagnostic — deps, MCP reachability, hooks, settings |
/ashlr-tour |
60-second guided walkthrough on your current project |
/ashlr-benchmark |
Token-savings benchmark against your current project |
/ashlr-genome-init |
Initialize .ashlrcode/genome/ for the −84% grep path |
/ashlr-ollama-setup |
Diagnose Ollama for --summarize; pull recommended 3B model |
/ashlr-settings |
View or change plugin toggles |
/ashlr-update |
git pull + bun install + report what changed |
Free vs Pro
The free tier is the product — 40 MCP tools, 31 slash commands, the full genome scribe loop, and every benchmark included. No account required.
Pro ($12/mo, 7-day trial) adds cloud infrastructure for developers who need it: cross-machine stats sync, hosted embedding retrieval, cloud LLM summarizer (no local Ollama required), and a live auto-updating savings badge. Team ($24/user/mo, min 3) adds shared encrypted team genome, org savings dashboard, policy packs, and SSO.
Run /ashlr-upgrade to upgrade, or see docs/pricing.md for the full comparison.
Architecture
See docs/architecture.md for how the tools, hooks, and genome scribe loop fit together.
Changelog
See CHANGELOG.md for version history.
License
MIT — LICENSE.
