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Equation 6 · Part 5 · The Token Tax of Giving a Model More Tools

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T(n)≈τ0+nsˉT(n) \approx \tau_0 + n\bar{s}
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What this part means

Approximately equal to; the equality is not exact.

Its job in the formula

Approximately equal to; the equality is not exact.

The passage around this formula

which, if schemas run at roughly a uniform average size sˉ\bar{s} , simplifies to T(n) ≈\approx τ0\tau_0 + nsˉ\bar{s} . Nothing about this term depends on whether the model calls any tool at all; it is the price of the menu, not the price of the order. And critically, because a stateless inference API resends its full input on every request, T(n) is not paid once at the start of a session — it is paid again, in full, on every single turn for as long as tools remain attached to the request.

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Learn the underlying idea

A variable is a named place for a value. Its letter is a local label: x can mean position in one formula and a data point in another.

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Sources cited in the article section

These citations provide research context; check each source for the exact claim it supports.