Default Claude Code Settings May Be Quietly Inflating Your API Costs

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Several default features in Claude Code generate background API calls and expand context windows without users realizing it, driving up token costs during active sessions. Features such as away summaries, prompt suggestions, and auto memory each trigger additional API requests or add data to the context, even when not actively used. The opusplan hybrid model setting can also invalidate the prompt cache mid-conversation, making token processing up to 80 times more expensive. Developers can disable these features individually through the /config menu, settings.json, or environment variables. The goal is not to turn off all features but to help users make informed decisions about which ones justify their cost.

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