Definition
Token minning is an emerging counterterm for systematically reducing token consumption while preserving an explicit threshold for useful outcome quality. Techniques include retrieving smaller context slices, stabilizing cacheable prefixes, shortening tool payloads, routing by task, bounding retries, replacing deterministic work with code, and stopping when additional inference no longer changes the decision.
The doubled n is intentional wordplay on tokenmaxxing and minimizing. The term is new and promotional sources are helping define it, so Dark Factory Dev marks it contested even though the underlying engineering practice is straightforward.
Distinguish it from nearby terms
Token minning is not choosing the smallest token count at any cost. If compression removes needed evidence, pushes work into human review, or lowers acceptance and durability, total system efficiency can get worse. The target is fewer tokens for an equivalent or better accepted outcome.
Check your understanding
Hold the acceptance test constant, reduce one source of token demand, and measure whether tokens per accepted task improve without moving cost into retries or review.