Remote Frog

I’m very concerned with context size since I run out of tokens for the first time after intensively using a multiagent set up. So I wanted to confirm a suspicion… is it better to cluster/group requests or to make them one by one?

Spoiler: Better to group requests! But see for yourself, if you’re a bit of a doubting Thomas

I asked cursor

If I'm working on a given set of 3 files. What would be costier in terms of context tokens:
- Ask for 3 modifications in three times
- Ask for the same 3 modifications together in one request to the agent
- Same cost

And this was Cursor’s answer:

Great question about context token costs! Let me break this down:
The answer is: Asking for 3 modifications in three separate requests is MORE COSTLY.
Here's why:

Token Cost Breakdown for Three Separate Requests
Each request includes:
- System prompts (rules, agent instructions, skills, etc.) - sent every time
- File context (open/recently viewed files metadata) - repeated each time
- Git status - repeated each time
- User query - 3 different messages
- Agent responses - 3 separate responses
- Tool calls (reading files) - files may be re-read multiple times across requests
- Conversation history - grows with each exchange, carrying forward all previous messages
One Combined Request
Includes:
- System prompts - sent once
- File context - sent once
- Git status - sent once
- User query - one message (even if longer)
- Agent response - one response
- Tool calls - files read once and used for all modifications
- No conversation history overhead from multiple back-and-forth exchanges

Why the Difference Matters
1. System overhead is significant: The system prompts, rules, and context information I receive are quite substantial (as you can see from the structure above). This gets sent with every new request.
2. File re-reading: When you make separate requests, the agent often needs to re-read the same files to understand context, even if they were just read in the previous request.
3. Conversation history accumulation: With three separate requests, the second request includes the first exchange in history, and the third includes both previous exchanges, creating a compounding effect.

Best Practice
Batch related changes together in a single request when possible. This is:
- More cost-efficient
- Often more coherent (the agent sees the full picture)
- Faster overall execution
- The only time separate requests might make sense is if modifications are truly independent or if you need to verify one change before proceeding to the next.