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Cursor improves token efficiency for long agent runs, cutting user costs by 7%

1 report1 sourceupdated 6 days ago

What happened

Summary

Cursor 从四个地方下手,把 agent 长时间任务的 token 消耗砍掉了 7%,而且没掉质量。他们先把系统提示词精简了约 66%,因为现在的模型不需要手把手教了;接着把 60% 的内置工具定义从每次请求必带改成用时再加载,这跟之前给 MCP 工具省下 46.9% token 的思路一样;还压缩了文件读取内容,并策略性地用子 agent 分担任...

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Sep 23
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    Cursor improves token efficiency for long agent runs, cutting user costs by 7%

    Cursor cut token costs for long agent runs by 7% through four engineering changes, with no quality regression. They trimmed the system prompt by ~66% as models now need less hand-holding; offloaded 60% of built-in tool definitions from static context to dynamic loading (similar to the 46.9% token reduction they previously achieved for MCP tools); compressed file reads; and used subagents strategically. The post doesn't disclose the absolute dollar or token amounts behind the 7% figure, nor the specifics of the compression and subagent implementations. The savings come from production A/B tests, so your mileage will vary by model and task length.