CLOV

「Context Limiter & Output Vetter」

CLOV includes work derived from RTK, extended with a Rust implementation, deeper MCP proxy support, structured-response filtering, dynamic truncation controls, and a more local-first workflow with filtering and telemetry handled on-device.

Quick install
brew tap alexandephilia/clov && brew install clov

Primary command names now use the CLOV surface (pulse, hook, bridge, settings, doctor, inspect). The old names were removed as part of the CLI migration.

MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers are brilliant, but their outputs are an uncontrolled firehose of context-destroying noise. When your AI agent pulls web search results or database dumps, it swallows navigation chrome, tracking parameters, and megabytes of unstructured JSON.

clov is the apex predator for context bloat. It is a highly specialized, structure-aware JSON-RPC proxy built specifically to intercept and compress MCP responses before they annihilate your LLM's context window.

As a secondary capability, clov intercepts raw terminal streams (git, cargo, npm, etc.), mercilessly executing ANSI codes and redundant progress bars.

Deploy clov between your AI agent and the world. Reclaim up to 95% of your context window. Stop paying hyperscalers for garbage tokens.

The Economics of Context

When an AI coder hits an MCP search tool, a single raw response easily spikes over 50,000 tokens. clov intercepts, analyzes the structure, and prunes it intelligently.

Measured during live AI coding sessions on massive monolithic architectures.

Deployment

Zero friction. Complete control.

# MacOS / Linux (Homebrew)
brew tap alexandephilia/clov
brew install clov

# Rust Toolchain (Cargo)
cargo install --git https://github.com/alexandephilia/clov-ai

# Direct Injection (Curl)
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/alexandephilia/clov-ai/refs/heads/main/install.sh | sh

(Pre-compiled binaries for all architectures are available in standard releases).

MCP Universal Filtering

To armor your MCP servers, wrap their invocation command with the clov bridge proxy bridge. clov operates as a transparent JSON-RPC layer, handling MCP stdio framing (Content-Length and newline-delimited payloads) and compacting both text and structured tool results on the wire.

Note: This is a real-world example of clov intercepting and filtering Exa search results during an AI coding session.

Configuration example for your AI agent (e.g., ~/.mcp.json):

"mcpServers": {
  "web-search-engine": {
    "command": "/opt/homebrew/bin/clov",
    "args": [
      "bridge",
      "proxy",
      "--preset", "claude-code-balanced",
      "--max-tokens", "4096",
      "--tokenizer-profile", "claude",
      "--max-array-items", "6",
      "--max-object-keys", "16",
      "npx", "-y", "target-mcp-server"
    ]
  },
  "sql-connector": {
    "command": "/opt/homebrew/bin/clov",
    "args": [
      "bridge",
      "proxy",
      "--preset", "gemini-search-heavy",
      "--max-tokens", "6000",
      "--tokenizer-profile", "generic-code",
      "--max-array-items", "10",
      "python", "-m", "db_mcp"
    ]
  }
}

Dynamic knobs available on clov bridge proxy:

• --preset <name>: load named defaults like claude-code-balanced, openai-balanced, or gemini-search-heavy
• --max-tokens <N>: target token budget before truncation
• --tokenizer-profile <profile>: choose approx, claude, openai, gemini, or generic-code heuristics for budget enforcement
• --max-array-items <N>: keep more or fewer rows before inserting summaries
• --max-object-keys <N>: retain more or fewer keys on wide objects
• --preserve-code <true|false>: keep code-like payloads intact or force prose-style cleanup
• --aggressive-chrome-strip <true|false>: enable or relax nav/footer/ad stripping

The same settings can also be supplied through environment variables for MCP hosts that prefer env-driven config:

• CLOV_MCP_PRESET
• CLOV_MCP_MAX_TOKENS
• CLOV_MCP_TOKENIZER_PROFILE
• CLOV_MCP_MAX_ARRAY_ITEMS
• CLOV_MCP_MAX_OBJECT_KEYS
• CLOV_MCP_PRESERVE_CODE
• CLOV_MCP_AGGRESSIVE_CHROME_STRIP

You can also persist defaults in ~/.config/clov/config.toml under [mcp], for example:

[mcp]
preset = "claude-code-balanced"
max_tokens = 5000
tokenizer_profile = "claude"
max_array_items = 8

The Universal AI Logic:

1. Dynamic Content Classification: Identifies web/search payloads, code, structured data, and plain text without server-specific hardcoding.
2. Aggressive Chrome Stripping: Removes navigation, footers, ad markers, and other low-signal page chrome from textual payloads.
3. Structured Data Reduction: Samples large arrays, keeps high-signal keys, and inserts explicit truncation summaries instead of dumping raw connector output.
4. Density-Aware Truncation: Auto-scales truncation limits based on payload density while preserving code shape and useful context.

Standalone CLI Intervention

clov doesn't just proxy MCPs. It dominates the terminal. For AI coders like Claude Code, clov can inject a global auto-rewrite hook to govern terminal output automatically.

# Establish global terminal intercept hooks
clov hook --global

When your AI executes git log, npm test, or cargo clippy, clov intercepts the invocation transparently, executing the process, tearing out the ANSI codes, deleting the progress bars, and feeding only pure signal back to the LLM.

Covered Toolchains:

• Version Control: Condenses git statuses, tightens PR views (gh).
• Web Stacks: Mutes npm, pnpm, eslint, tsc, Next.js, vitest.
• Systems: Crushes cargo test, cargo build, cargo clippy.
• Pythonic: Condenses pytest, ruff, mypy, pip.
• Go: Strips go test, go build, golangci-lint.
• DevOps: Minimizes docker, kubectl output.

If clov doesn't recognize a command, it bypasses filtering automatically.

Local Telemetry

clov tracks your token economy rigorously. No cloud pings. No data theft. 100% local SQLite metrics.

clov pulse             # Lifetime efficiency readouts
clov pulse --graph     # 30-day visual velocity charting
clov pulse --all       # Granular temporal exports

Deep Configuration

clov requires no configuration, but command-line veterans can manipulate the tracking database and telemetry environments via ~/.config/clov/config.toml.

clov settings --create  # Scaffold custom parameters
clov doctor             # Validate hook integrity hashes
clov inspect            # Scan AI logs for missed optimization vectors

Full-Fidelity Output Recovery (Tee Mode)

If clov aggressively intercepts a test failure and the AI actually needs the unadulterated noise to debug, clov writes the raw bypass data to a temporary file. A minimal pointer line is provided, allowing the AI to read the full context if—and only if—it is absolutely required.

Technical Index

• ARCHITECTURE.md — Universal Filter system design and JSON-RPC proxy internals.
• CLAUDE.md — Behavioral guidelines for AI operation.
• docs/AUDIT_GUIDE.md — Advanced economic charting and localized analytics APIs.

Repo Maintainers

Alexandephilia Vibing

Claude Implementation

Codex Planning

Star History

Acknowledgments

CLOV includes derivative work based on rtk-ai/rtk, an MIT-licensed project focused on token optimization for AI coding workflows.

This project extends that foundation with a Rust implementation, MCP proxy support, structured-response filtering, dynamic truncation controls, and local telemetry integrations.

Upstream RTK attribution and bundled license text are included in LICENSES/RTK-MIT-LICENSE.

License

MIT License — see LICENSE.

Third-party attribution and bundled license text for RTK are included in LICENSES/RTK-MIT-LICENSE.

_{Authored by @alexandephilia × claude
Includes derivative work and attribution for rtk-ai/rtk under MIT; see LICENSES/RTK-MIT-LICENSE}