lowauto-fixable
ASCII art in a paid channel
Rows of equals signs are for humans reading a terminal, not for the model.
Long separator lines exist to help a person scan a file. The model already knows a new section started, because a heading said so.
A single 60-character rule of equals signs is roughly fifteen tokens. Twelve of them in a structured prompt is a couple of hundred tokens on every request, spent on visual rhythm the reader never sees.
Use a markdown heading or an XML-style tag instead. Both delimit sections more reliably for the model and cost a fraction as much.
Before
============================================
OUTPUT FORMAT
============================================After
## Output formatCheck your own prompt
The analyser checks this pattern along with the other 25, prices each finding against your request volume, and hands back a rewritten prompt. It runs in your browser — nothing is uploaded.
Run the analyserMore on formatting
- Markdown tables padded for alignmentColumn alignment is whitespace, and whitespace is tokens.
- Shouting is billed by the letterALL-CAPS words split into more tokens than the same word in title case.
- Smart quotes from a word processorCurly quotes and em dashes cost several tokens each. Their ASCII twins cost one.
- Whitespace you are paying to storeTrailing spaces and stacked blank lines are billable and invisible.