token-estimator

Heuristic token count estimation for LLM prompts — no tokenizer dependency, zero runtime deps, strict TypeScript.

This blends a chars/4 baseline with word-boundary, whitespace-run, CJK, and code-density signals, then applies a per-model calibration factor. It ships with an explicit +/-15% error margin. Use it for quick budget checks (does this prompt fit in my context window?) — not for billing-critical accuracy. For that, use the provider's real tokenizer (e.g. tiktoken for OpenAI, Anthropic's token-counting endpoint for Claude).

Quickstart

import { estimateTokens, estimateMessages, fitsWithin } from "token-estimator";

estimateTokens("The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.");
// => { tokens: 11, errorMargin: 0.15, low: 9, high: 13 }

const messages = [
  { role: "system", content: "You are a helpful assistant." },
  { role: "user", content: "Explain quantum computing." },
];

estimateMessages(messages, { model: "claude" });
// => { tokens: ..., errorMargin: 0.15, low: ..., high: ... }

fitsWithin(messages, 8000, 1000);
// => { fits: true, estimatedTokens: ..., limit: 8000, reserve: 1000, available: 7000 }

API

estimateTokens(text, options?)

Estimates the token count of a single string.

• text: string
• options.model?: "claude" | "gpt" | "generic" — calibration curve, default "generic".
• options.isCode?: boolean — force code-density mode; auto-detected if omitted.
• Returns { tokens, errorMargin, low, high }.

estimateMessages(messages, options?)

Estimates a chat message array, adding MESSAGE_OVERHEAD_TOKENS (4) per message for role/delimiter wrapping.

• messages: { role: string; content: string }[]
• Returns the same TokenEstimate shape.

fitsWithin(messages, limit, reserve?, options?)

Budget helper: does this message array fit within limit tokens after reserving reserve tokens (e.g. for the model's response)?

• Returns { fits, estimatedTokens, limit, reserve, available }.

Constants

• ERROR_MARGIN — 0.15
• MESSAGE_OVERHEAD_TOKENS — 4

Types

ModelFamily, EstimateOptions, TokenEstimate, ChatMessage, FitsWithinResult.

Limits

• Estimates only, +/-15% stated margin. Never use this for exact billing, quota enforcement, or hard context-limit truncation — use the provider's real tokenizer for anything billing-critical.
• Calibration factors (claude/gpt) are informal approximations, not vendor-published constants, and drift as vendors change tokenizers.
• CJK detection is range-based and does not distinguish scripts with meaningfully different tokenization behavior beyond the CJK/non-CJK split.
• Code detection is a density heuristic on the first 2000 characters; it can misclassify short snippets or unusual languages.

Part of the ferrow-toolkit collection · Sponsored by Ferrow