rtk-cli

rtk-cli

RTK is a Rust CLI proxy that filters and compresses common dev command output (often 60–90% fewer tokens) before it reaches the model. It complements Slopgate: Slopgate enforces quality on edits; RTK shrinks read-only shell output.

Upstream: https://github.com/rtk-ai/rtk

Install

# macOS
brew install rtk

# Linux/macOS (installs to ~/.local/bin)
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rtk-ai/rtk/refs/heads/master/install.sh | sh

# From source
cargo install --git https://github.com/rtk-ai/rtk

Verify: rtk --version and rtk gain. If rtk gain fails, you may have the unrelated crates.io "rtk" package — use the git install above.

Harness setup (hooks owned by RTK, not the bundle)

Run after slopgate install … when both are used. The bundle does not symlink hooks.json or settings.json.

Harness	Command
Claude Code / Copilot	rtk init -g
Cursor	rtk init -g --agent cursor
Codex	rtk init -g --codex
OpenCode	rtk init -g --opencode
Gemini CLI	rtk init -g --gemini

Restart the harness after init. Uninstall RTK hooks only: rtk init -g --uninstall.

Scope: auto-rewrite applies to Bash/shell tool commands only. Built-in Read / Grep / Glob (Claude/Cursor) are not rewritten — use shell (cat/head, rtk rg, find) or explicit rtk read / rtk grep / rtk find when you want compact output.

Slopgate + RTK together

1. slopgate install all (or per-platform) — quality guardrails via slopgate handle.
2. rtk init -g (with the right --agent / --codex / --opencode flags) — Bash rewrite to rtk … equivalents.
3. Confirm both hook entries exist (e.g. Cursor ~/.cursor/hooks.json: Slopgate slopgate handle + RTK preToolUse rewrite).

Slopgate rules already assume RTK for search in several shards (rtk rg, not GNU grep for ripgrep flags). See ~/.claude/rules/search-navigation.md when linked from the bundle.

High-value commands

rtk git status
rtk git diff
rtk git log -n 20
rtk rg "pattern" src/
rtk read path/to/file.rs
rtk cargo test
rtk pytest
rtk ruff check
rtk docker ps
rtk gain                 # savings stats
rtk discover             # missed rewrite opportunities

Global flags: -u / --ultra-compact for extra compression; -v for more detail.

Config

~/.config/rtk/config.toml (macOS also ~/Library/Application Support/rtk/config.toml):

[hooks]
exclude_commands = ["curl"]   # never rewrite these

[tee]
enabled = true
mode = "failures"             # save full output on failure

Per-command bypass: RTK_DISABLED=1 git status runs raw.

Telemetry

Opt-in only. rtk telemetry status | enable | disable | forget. Set RTK_TELEMETRY_DISABLED=1 to block regardless of consent.

When not to use RTK

• You need full, unfiltered output for debugging (use raw command or RTK_DISABLED=1).
• Piped workflows where rewriting the left side would break format expectations (RTK skips some find/fd pipe cases).
• Replacing Slopgate lint/hook enforcement — use slopgate lint check and hook denials for that.