A new version of ttok, a command-line interface tool designed for counting language model tokens, has been released. Simon Willison reported on the update, which brings version 0.4 to users after a multi-year gap in maintenance. The utility relies on OpenAI’s open-source tiktoken library and now includes a command to list available models, alongside updated continuous integration workflows and a fix for a previous Click warning. The release notes highlight compatibility with uvx, allowing users to pipe files directly into the tool for token counts.
Understanding Token Counting in the LLM Workflow
Tokenization is a fundamental step in working with large language models, determining how text is split and processed before being sent to an API. Tools that run locally in the terminal help developers monitor input lengths and manage context windows efficiently. Because the announcement did not specify a full breakdown of supported models beyond the new listing feature, users must check the utility directly to see which recent model iterations are recognized by the updated tiktoken bindings.
Open Questions and Future Updates
The announcement did not specify whether additional features or deeper integrations with other package managers are planned for subsequent releases. Developers will need to test the uvx workflow directly to verify behavior across different operating systems and shell environments. It remains unknown if the maintainer intends to resume a regular update schedule following this deployment.
The updated tool is available now for developers working with command-line text processing pipelines.
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