[Bug] Excessive token usage and over-researching file context

Having same issue with Claude Code VS Code Extension 2.1.81
Makes my plan unusable. Current session 5h window usage jumped to 25% without even starting a single conversation. This is happening consistently for a past day or so.

A "/compact" command with Opus used 25% of Pro plan 5h window usage, is it normal?

I have never in my life hit a 5 hour limit before. Now I am hitting it constantly. Today I worked for an hour and hit the limit, and I only had one session that I interacted with sporadically. It has also been getting lost in what may be thinking for very long periods that never end until I hit escape. Maybe that is where the tokens are going.

Hook workaround: read-budget-guard
A PreToolUse hook on Read that tracks unique file reads per session and blocks after a configurable budget:

{
  "hooks": {
    "PreToolUse": [{
      "matcher": "Read",
      "hooks": [{
        "type": "command",
        "command": "~/.claude/hooks/read-budget-guard.sh"
      }]
    }]
  }
}

INPUT=$(cat)
FILE=$(echo "$INPUT" | jq -r '.tool_input.file_path // empty' 2>/dev/null)
[ -z "$FILE" ] && exit 0
BUDGET=${CC_READ_BUDGET:-100}
TRACKER="/tmp/cc-read-budget-$$"
[ -f "$TRACKER" ] || touch "$TRACKER"
if grep -qxF "$FILE" "$TRACKER" 2>/dev/null; then
    echo "⚠ Duplicate read: $(basename "$FILE") already read this session" >&2
fi
echo "$FILE" >> "$TRACKER"
COUNT=$(wc -l < "$TRACKER")
if [ "$COUNT" -gt "$BUDGET" ]; then
    echo "BLOCKED: Read budget exceeded ($COUNT/$BUDGET files)" >&2
    echo "Start working with what you have." >&2
    exit 2
fi
exit 0

Set CC_READ_BUDGET=50 to be more aggressive, or CC_READ_BUDGET=200 for larger projects. The duplicate-read warning alone catches the most common case — Claude re-reading files it already has in context.

upgrading to newest version seems to have fixed it (2.1.87).
downgrading to 2.0.64 also fixed it.

thank you @yurukusa for your workaround! <3

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