Token Saver: Open-Source MCP Extension Cuts Claude PDF Token Costs by Up to 99% with Hybrid RAG

Token Saver is a newly released open-source extension for the Model Context Protocol that uses local hybrid Retrieval-Augmented Generation to dramatically reduce token consumption when processing PDFs through Claude, with reported reductions of 90–99% in token costs. Instead of sending full PDF content to the model context window, Token Saver indexes documents locally and retrieves only the most relevant chunks, combining dense and sparse retrieval for accuracy. This approach is particularly valuable for document-heavy workflows — legal, financial, research, or enterprise document processing — where PDF ingestion is a primary cost driver in Claude-based pipelines. Developers using Claude via MCP for document tasks can deploy Token Saver as a middleware layer without restructuring their existing agentic architecture. The open-source release makes it immediately forkable and adaptable to other document types or model providers.