---
id: "framework-stupid-button-audit"
type: "framework"
source_timestamps: ["00:15:26"]
tags: ["auditing", "diagnostics"]
related: ["concept-the-stupid-button", "concept-token-burning"]
sources: ["s45-claude-limit-chatgpt-habit"]
sourceVaultSlug: "s45-claude-limit-chatgpt-habit"
originDay: 45
---
# The Stupid Button Audit Checklist

## Purpose
A diagnostic checklist to run against any AI workflow or chat session to identify egregious token waste **before** blaming the model for high costs or poor performance. Operational form of [[concept-the-stupid-button]].

## The Six Audit Questions
1. **Raw PDFs?** Are you feeding raw PDFs or images instead of clean Markdown? → If yes, fix via [[concept-markdown-conversion]] and [[action-convert-markdown]].
2. **Fresh Conversation?** Is this conversation longer than 10–15 turns? When did you last start fresh? → If sprawling, apply [[concept-context-sprawl]] mitigations and [[action-start-fresh-chats]].
3. **Cheapest Model?** Are you using the most expensive model (e.g., Claude Opus) for trivial formatting or search tasks? → Apply [[concept-smart-tokens]] thinking; route by task.
4. **Context Loading?** Do you know exactly how many tokens of system prompts and plugins are loading **before** you type a word? → If no, run [[action-measure-context]] (e.g., [[entity-claude-code-d45]]'s `/context`).
5. **Caching Enabled?** Are you utilizing prompt caching for stable system instructions? → If no, see [[concept-prompt-caching]] and [[action-implement-caching]].
6. **Search Method?** Are you using expensive native web search instead of a cheaper, dedicated tool like [[entity-perplexity-d45]]? → Apply [[action-use-perplexity]].

## Use Cases
- Before complaining models have plateaued (counter to [[claim-models-not-plateauing]] / [[contrarian-models-plateauing]]).
- Before buying a more expensive plan.
- Before architecting a new agent without applying [[framework-kiss-commands]].

## Tagline
**Pass the Stupid Button before you blame the model.**