Equation 7 · The Token Tax of Giving a Model More Tools
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Symbol T
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Symbol n
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which, if schemas run at roughly a uniform average size , simplifies to T(n) + n . 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.
Sources cited in the article section
- [4] Pricing ↗
- [6] Function Calling ↗
- [5] Introducing Advanced Tool Use on the Claude Developer Platform ↗
These citations give research context. Read each source to check which claims it supports.
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