Optimizing Work with Codex 5.6: How to Reduce Token Usage

One of the most useful habits when working with Codex 5.6 at the final stage is to compress long dialogues into a document for project context transfer. This can save a huge amount of tokens.

When the dialogue for a long project becomes too large, outdated solutions and garbage from error logs accumulate in it. As a result, the AI repeatedly reviews the code and steps on old rakes, wasting a huge amount of tokens in vain.

An approximate prompt that helps significantly reduce useless token expenditure:

"The current stage of work is coming to an end. Create or update PROJECT_STATUS.md, summarizing the results of this stage into a document for project transfer, from which work can seamlessly continue.

The document should include: current goals, completed tasks, key technical decisions, modified main files, testing and verification results, known issues, approaches already tried but not successful, as well as the sequence of next development steps.

Cross-check the content with the current code, Git changes, and test results. Leave only the information that will really be needed for further development. Do not add irrelevant discussions, unverified conclusions, or sensitive data such as passwords or keys."

The next time you return to the project, the first message is enough to write:

"First read PROJECT_STATUS.md to confirm current progress, known issues, and next steps, and then continue development."

The main value of this habit is that the AI no longer has to sift through bloated context, reanalyze already verified solutions, or fall into the same old traps again.

Even better, this context transfer document is not tied to a single session or platform.

The same project can be handed over to Codex, Claude Code, Cursor, or even the next developer — and work can continue immediately.