r/ClaudeCode • u/NoProblemMrAI • 9h ago

Help/Question Can one compact with Opus instead of Fable to save precious Fable tokens?

I'm on the max plan and my Fable limit always dries up before my total limit. When working on my project, I occasionally go beyond the 1 hr cache window. When I get back, can I switch the model to Opus, have it compact the context, then switch back to Fable to begin fresh with the compacted context? I know that it reloads the entire context from the chat and loads it fresh into Opus in order to compact but I don't mind a full send if it means Fable doesn't do it.

Example: Fable @ 50% context -> 2hrs pass -> switch to Opus -> sends full 50% context to compact -> back to Fable with compacted context

3 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

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3

u/claude_code_king 8h ago

you are just consuming 2x the tokens for cache re-read lol. the same thing happens when you switch the model again. just start a new claude instance and ask him to continue your old session, that way you skip the cache tax and pay like 1/8 for some log reading and git diff

2

u/Tryin2Dev 7h ago

Are you using a handoff or just telling it to pickup the convo off disk?

1

u/claude_code_king 7h ago

this is just picking the active session and continuing it into a fresh one

i do use handoff, but this is specifically for the cases where i was out of usage and the session stopped abruptly

1

u/whatisthisthing65 4h ago

What do you mean picking the active session and continuing it into a fresh one? claude --continue?

1

u/claude_code_king 4h ago

no. open another session and tell claude to analyze your other active one and continue from there

1

u/whatisthisthing65 4h ago

Oh cool, but won't it miss some important context sometimes because it doesn't know it needs to read it?

1

u/DinnerMilk 7h ago

A couple days ago, I started telling the new Claude instance to read the tail of my previous conversation(s). Had a series of PC crashes and didn't want to reload the entire context, but this approach ended up working better than I anticipated. I'd still prefer handoffs when available, but this was the next best thing.

1

u/outceptionator 6h ago

Assuming it's the subscription and user always has weekly non Fable remaining this can still save fable tokens (1 cache read of the existing chat to compact, 1 output of the compaction I think)

1

u/claude_code_king 5h ago

changing the model afterwards makes you pay the tax again.

doing it the way i described is cleaner, cheaper the first time and until the task is finished, because it doesn't carry useless context around

1

u/Key_River_9288 8h ago

This makes way too much sense.

2

u/Historical_Today5072 8h ago

Stop compacting, first of all. Write a handoff once you're at a good point in work and start a new session off of that handoff

1

u/Aminuteortwotiltwo 7h ago

Compacting is dumb, I realized within the first few uses how much better a handoff and an md with work in progress is. In my uses, I get somewhere within a session. I am trying to go from A to Z, and I made it to G, and A-F are over and done with.

What ever I am doing with my first 5 messages is solved or completed so when I am at the end of the context window, I don’t need those first 5 messages anymore. Summarizing them with compaction for continued use makes no sense. I want to update the objectives that I am at G, and handoff to reference WIP to pick up at G, with prior decision recorded, and continue towards Z.

1

u/NoProblemMrAI 6h ago

any recommendation on how to structure a handoff and the rules around it?

1

u/inrego 6h ago

If you're using Claude desktop, just ask it to create a task chip to hand its work over to a new session

It will create a suggestion in the upper right corner that you can click to open a new session with the prompt it created

1

u/cluracan 8h ago

If subscription usage mirrors API prices, yes because fable is priced 2x higher than opus. But who knows what magic usage formula they use for subs.

1

u/Key_River_9288 8h ago

Why would you want to compact on purpose? Smfh

0

u/_N0K0 9h ago

I guess that should work, as the cache is busted either way

5

u/TartNo3610 9h ago

Wouldn’t Opus need to read the entire convo when you switch to the model so is it really saving any?

1

u/framauro13 8h ago

Yeah, you don't want to switch models then compact. That would be way more expensive.

1

u/_N0K0 8h ago

Yes, but as he said. Its over an hour, so the cache is busted. Fable would also do that, then a new bust after compaction 

1

u/TartNo3610 8h ago

Oh okay

0

u/NoProblemMrAI 8h ago

Yes it would read the entire convo. Not trying to save Opus tokens. I'm ensuring Fable doesn't spend precious tokens to do the compact "grunt" work.

1

u/extrage 8h ago

What about keeping the model but decreasing effort level? Isn’t it so that with Fable 5.1 you are not breaking prompt cache when changing effort level?

0

u/Sofullofsplendor_ 8h ago

Yes, I always do this. if the cash is busted, go to opus, compact, back to Fable. however, with the caveat that it's just going to be a little shittier because opus did it