Claude API Cost Optimization: Caching, Batching, and 60% Token Reduction in Production

The Claude API bills by token. If you're running autonomous agents, that bill compounds fast. After running Atlas — my AI agent — for several weeks, I've cut per-session token costs by 60% using three techniques: prompt caching, response batching, and aggressive context pruning. Here's exactly how each works. 1. Prompt Caching Anthropic's prompt caching lets you mark sections of your prompt as cacheable. If the same cached content appears in a subsequent request within the TTL (5 mi...