Thrifty Token Tree Tips

Now that I have become a Claude convert, I decided to learn about the models and usage so I don't end up torching cash like Amazon did. Granted, I would run out of cash much faster than Amazon, but still. Hitting usage limits is super annoying! Found this GREAT article with all kinds of tips like "Chat uses less tokens than Co-work" and when you are working on something, Claude will re-read everything all over again which uses more tokens so you can save tokens on a Co-work session just by using this prompt suggested by Ruben Hassid:

"At the end of a Cowork session, prompt “Write a session-notes.md with the key decisions and next steps.” Next session, start with “Read session-notes.md first.”

As so often happens with technology, some of the tips Ruben provided four months ago in April 2026 are already out-of-date due to changes made by Claude. Like, I tried to change the setting to "concise" but it's gone. Yes, I know it partly moved to "Customize->Skills" but "Concise" would need to be manually added.The next burning million-dollar, er...I mean million-token question is which model do I use for what? Ruben gives this advice:

"Grammar checks, brainstorming, reformatting, short answers. Sonnet handles all of this at a fraction of the cost.

Opus + Extended thinking is your heavy machinery. Don’t use heavy machinery to move a chair.

My rule: if the task takes Claude less than 30 seconds to answer, it probably doesn’t need Opus. Switch models before you start the session. It takes 2 clicks."

Remember, his post was written before Fable launched so put Fable under the "complex task" and "token-torching" category in your grey matter.

And speaking of token-torching, I tried out Ruben's tips for NOT uploading images to Claude and torching my tokens that way - I have figured out a way that I could obtain the info I needed for Claude -AND- save tokens in the process. The two apps I used for this were FamilySearch and

the "Notes" app that comes standard in my iPhone. I regularly use the Notes app for voice transcription because it's pretty good. To do this test run, I first opened my FamilySearch tree to Adam Weaver where I know I have saved several pages of a Weaver book in the sources section of Adam's profile. The book is almost 100 pages and as I recently hit that 100 page limit in another chat, I have been thinking about capturing the information in this book without hitting that limit. So here's how I accomplished that and the first test run did not even change my usage percentages! Woo-hoo! Open FamilySearch on your phone, find the image of a source you want to save, click the "copy" icon on the transcription (circled in red in the left screenshot), then paste that into a new note on your phone. Caveat, I was copying and pasting a typed transcription so FamilySearch's transcription had little to no errors. If you are copying transcribed handwriting, there will likely be a higher error rate. I copy and pasted three transcriptions into the Note and then clicked "Select All" in the Note and then pasted that into Claude. I included the prompt in this image and it put the pasted text above my prompt but it still worked like a charm. 

I also have a TON of books and other genealogical resources I have imaged with my phone. So I tried an experiment and searched for "Adam" in my photos, found a page from the same Weaver book, held my finger down on it and pressed down until "Select all" came up, Copy, and then
pasted into the Sonnet 5 chat. It updated with the additional information just fine but as Ruben

points out, it uses more tokens when Claude has to keep re-reading through previous chats. It does also work to just copy and paste the text into the iPhone note, which to reiterate, saves usage over just constantly updating the chat.

Anyhow, between Ruben's tips (I recommend reading his whole post) and my tweaks for genealogy, I hope this saves you some tokens. Don't forget to proof the work for accuracy.

Fable 5 has me over a barrel

I'm sure Anthropic will like the title of this post as that's exactly what they want! I am a ChatGPT subscriber and wasn't much of a Claude user until Fable 5. I heard the glowing reviews both on podcasts and in the Genealogy and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Facebook group which is what prompted me to try it. 

Before Fable 5, I had a hard time fathoming all the media articles predicting our impending doom from AI. The AI models that we mere mortals have had access to has been dumbed down for us non-Silicon Valley Titans. Until Fable 5. 

I started using Fable 5 after the second trial extension was announced, got halfway through a project, and ran out of credits. (!!!) Which of course, forced me over the barrel to subscribe. I have since learned how to check my usage which I regularly do on the iPhone app while uploading documents on the PC. Here's how to check usage on the phone app: Open Claude, click the three lines in the upper left corner, then click the circle that probably has your initials in the lower left corner, then click "Usage". I do this after each document I add or large task on Fable. I don't do this as much for Sonnet 5, which I change to when doing lighter tasks so as not to use up so many credits. Steve Little recommends Opus 5 and says it's almost as good as Fable 5.

So just what exactly have I've been using Fable 5 for? Document transcription for one. Best output I have seen from an LLM yet! I also use it for compiling biographies on ancestors and even triangulating where my ancestors lived by uploading deeds, land plats, and modern maps.

There are a few drawbacks you should know about besides burning through credits: unlike ChatGPT, Fable (aka Claude) does not reference previous chats. While ChatGPT gets to know you across all of your chats, Claude gets amnesia outside of the chat and you have to start all over again. And speaking of "starting all over again" the absolute worst limitation is the 100 images per chat! I was stunted by this while building a biographical genealogical masterpiece! Made me very grumpy and I left Anthropic some very terse feedback about that. The catch-22 about this is because AI bots have driven up server costs for so many websites, those sites have had to institute "are you human captchas?". So obviously, Claude cannot access a LOT of sites so that means you have to do the accessing and downloading, and then upload it to Claude. 

So far though, Fable 5 has been worth every red credit! For instance, I found an 18th century Westmoreland County, Virginia voters' poll using FamilySearch Full Text for the House of Burgesses. My ancestor, Adam Weaver, cast two votes and both were marked "Obj". Fable 5 explained that meant the opponent of whom he voted for objected to Adam voting because he wasn't a landowner. I don't know how long it would have taken me to learn that on my own if Fable 5 had not pointed it out. It took me two days of uploading documents for yesterday's 18-page biography; but can you imagine how long it would have taken before AI?

FamilySearch does it again with "Simple Search"!

 As FamilySearch's biggest (self-proclaimed) fan, they have once again created an AI search tool that is a "must try" for genealogists! I learned about Simple Search from Jennifer Moulder at the 2026 Utah State DAR Conference. I thought I would try it out with searching for a document for my own Chapter Registrar; that she needed for a Prospective Member's application. To use the tool, sign in to your FamilySearch account, or if you do not have one, you need to create one to use the Labs feature. I then located the "Demasters" family that my Registrar needed a document for that tied the father to the son, and as you can see in the image, I just asked it to search for that using their FamilySearch ID numbers. It produced a list of documents within seconds, including one my Registrar could use, and she was quite pleased! Jennifer also mentioned that Simple Search will sometimes produce documents that Full Text misses.

The Gamechanger: Using FamilySearch Full Text AI

My FamilySearch Stats

Several weeks ago, my husband asked me what I was working on. I replied that I was working on my genealogy and his response was, "Why? I thought you were done." Now to a genealogist's ears, that's a funny remark because all genealogists know that we will never be completely "done" as there is always something to work on in the family tree. Granted, I did the vast majority of my computer tree research in the early 2000's and then pivoted to DNA research. The only time since that I have conducted traditional genealogy research was when I had the opportunity to do in-person research at archives like the Daughters of the American Revolution Library, the Clayton Library in Houston, and the South Carolina Department of Archives and History, etc. etc. But the reason I now have a laptop in front of me in the quiet hours of early morning and late at night is thanks to FamilySearch.org implementing Full Text AI Search. In 2025 alone, I broke through an Irish ancestor's brickwall that we had thought would never be broken considering the difficulty imposed on research by the Four Courts fire in 1922 and I found another ancestor during his "lost years" in another county. In my mind, FamilySearch Full Text AI is the best thing since sliced bread! So if you're into family tree research, and you have not tried it, you need to and I will tell you how I get good results. But first, I highly recommend you have already connected to a tree in FamilySearch. For most people just starting out, that usually just entails connecting yourself to your parents and sometimes grandparents and the tree is usually already built out. And if you are not familiar with FamilySearch, it is entirely FREE! As you can see on my stats graph on the right, the huge spike in 2025-26 contributions (which is mostly records I have attached) is thanks to Full Text AI. Connecting yourself in a tree makes for ease of navigation, and will connect you to cousins at "Relatives at RootsTech."

To start your first Full Text AI search, log in to FamilySearch.org - then go to the top menu and click "Search" on the upper left menu, then click on "Full Text". When the box comes up, enter your ancestor's name in quotes, e.g.: "Rody Kennedy" then the place they lived "South Carolina" and a year range (I usually make mine a little broader than their birth year and death date). Then submit. Sometimes, especially with a common name, I will add another name related to that ancestor in the "Keyword" box above their name, for example, his wife "Ellen" and that will narrow the results down. Putting the name in quotes works much better than using a plus sign as I have tried both but I learned about the quotes from this video on FamilySearch AI which I highly recommend. This video is not only excellent for learning about this tool, but Colette Hokanson includes great general AI info as well. After you found a document that matches your ancestor, you can download a JPG of it and a PDF with or without a transcription. Be sure to proofread the transcription and correct errors before attaching to your ancestor's profile. I leave or add the words "Generated from AI summary" or "Generated from AI transcription" for disclosure purposes. Sometimes, genealogists like myself have already attached the record and it will show you if it has been attached, but do click and verify who the record was attached to. I recently attached a will of a friend of my ancestor who had named her in his will. You can also correct spelling errors by clicking the little pencil icon at the top right corner of the transcription box.

I have to say, I am deeply grateful to FamilySearch for implementing this AI Search function as it has allowed me to find records that I never would have found in my lifetime otherwise. On my very first trip to the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City in May 2023, I wasted an entire day of my life there looking for my Bohemian Great-Grandfather, August Bauman (wife is Josefa Engel) in the microfilms. When I could not find these two needles-in-a-haystack, I resigned myself to waiting for human volunteers to index these records for a kingdom that no longer exists (Bohemia that is). While these European collections have not yet been added to the AI searchable collections, I now have hope they will be and I will find them.

RootsTech 2026 is almost here and one of the exciting things about RootsTech is all the company announcements and new products/features. You can attend RootsTech online for FREE - sign up here and be sure to add lots of great AI sessions to your watch list including the session on "Guidelines for the Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Genealogy in 2026".