Optimizing Token Usage

Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.spinnable.ai/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

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Overview

Every interaction with your workers uses tokens — reading messages, generating responses, analyzing files, browsing the web, and using tools all contribute to your monthly usage. The good news is that small changes in how you work with your team can make your token budget go significantly further, without changing the natural way you communicate. Think of it like managing a real team: clear instructions, good onboarding, and smart delegation all make your people more efficient. The same applies to your AI workers.

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Give Clear, Complete Instructions

The single biggest impact on token efficiency is how you communicate tasks. Just like with a human colleague, giving the full picture upfront avoids back-and-forth clarification that consumes tokens on both sides. Each message triggers a full processing cycle. One well-structured message does the same job at a fraction of the token cost.

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Batch Related Tasks Together

When you have several related things to ask, combine them into a single message instead of sending them one at a time. Your worker handles a list of tasks in one go more efficiently than processing them separately. Example:

“Can you do these three things:

1. Check my calendar for tomorrow and flag any conflicts
2. Draft a meeting agenda for the 10am strategy session
3. Send Maria a reminder about the report deadline”

This uses far fewer tokens than three separate conversations.

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Invest in Onboarding

A well-onboarded worker is a more efficient worker. When your worker already knows your preferences, business context, and standard procedures, they spend fewer tokens figuring things out or asking clarifying questions. Take time to:

• Explain your business, their role, and what success looks like
• Share your communication style preferences
• Provide templates, guidelines, or examples they can follow
• Let them save important information to their memory

The upfront investment pays off quickly in lower token usage on every future task.

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Use Memory and Skills

Two powerful features help your workers avoid re-processing the same information over and over:

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Memory

When your worker learns something important — your preferences, key contacts, company policies — confirm when they ask to save it. Stored memories are recalled efficiently without re-reading lengthy instructions each time.

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Skills

When your worker successfully handles a multi-step process (like generating weekly reports or processing invoices), ask them to save it as a skill. Next time, they execute the same workflow more efficiently — no need to figure out the steps again.

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Specialize Your Workers

A focused worker is a more efficient worker. Instead of one worker handling sales, support, scheduling, and content creation, hire specialists for each area. Why this matters for tokens:

• Specialized workers carry less background context, so each interaction is leaner
• They build deeper expertise faster, meaning fewer mistakes and less rework
• They don’t waste tokens processing information irrelevant to their role

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Be Mindful with Inter-Worker Communication

Your workers can email each other — and that’s a powerful feature. Having one worker brief another, hand off research, or coordinate a workflow across roles is exactly how a real team operates. Just keep in mind that each inter-worker email counts as an external message and consumes tokens on both sides. That’s fine when the task genuinely benefits from it (complex handoffs, sharing files, maintaining an audit trail). But for quick internal coordination, you have lighter options: Choose the right channel for the job:

• Email between workers — best for substantive handoffs, structured briefs, or when you want a paper trail
• You relay the context — if you already have the info, passing it directly to the next worker is free
• Internal delegation — workers can delegate tasks to teammates without sending an email

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Review Recurring Tasks

Each time a recurring task runs, it consumes tokens. Over time, unused or unnecessary scheduled tasks can quietly eat into your allowance. Monthly audit checklist:

• Are all your recurring tasks still needed?
• Can any daily tasks be changed to weekly?
• Are there tasks producing reports nobody reads?

Delete or adjust anything that’s no longer adding value.

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Put Idle Workers on Holidays

Workers that are active but not doing useful work still consume tokens when they receive and process messages. If a worker isn’t needed right now, put them on holidays to pause all activity. You can reactivate them anytime — it’s like having a team member take time off until the next project.

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Manage File and Research Tasks Wisely

Some tasks are naturally token-heavy:

• Analyzing large documents — the longer the file, the more tokens required
• Web research — browsing multiple pages adds up quickly
• Complex multi-step analysis — each reasoning step consumes tokens

You don’t need to avoid these tasks, but be intentional:

• Send only the specific pages or sections your worker needs, rather than an entire 100-page document
• Give clear research boundaries: “Find the top 3 competitors in the Portuguese market” is cheaper than “Research everything about our competitive landscape”
• For recurring analysis, ask your worker to save the process as a skill so subsequent runs are more efficient

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Quick Reference

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Next Steps