Quickstart

Install Lineman in your Claude Code session and see real token savings on your first task. Five steps, about a minute. If you get stuck on any of them, email support@lineman.io , replies are quick during the beta.

  1. Create your account

    Browser

    Sign up at lineman.io. Google or Microsoft sign-in works, or use your email.

    https://lineman.io/signup

  2. Install Lineman

    Shell

    One command installs the Claude Code plugin, installs the lineman CLI, and opens a browser to sign you in. Required once per machine. Your token is written to ~/.lineman/config.json and shared by every session on this machine.

    npx -y @lineman-io/cli@latest setup

  3. Start a session

    Shell

    Use Claude Code exactly as you do now. Lineman compresses every large tool result automatically, with no extra prompt to write.

    claude

  4. Optional: turn on auto-compaction

    Shell

    Run lineman instead of claude to also summarise your session before Claude's native compaction kicks in, so long sessions keep more context.

    lineman

  5. Try it on a real task

    Shell

    Ask Claude Code anything that reads a large file, runs tests, or scans logs. Lineman auto-routes the heavy work and shows the savings inline.

    claude "summarise the last 5 commits and explain the biggest change"

What success looks like

After step 5 runs, the Claude Code statusline shows a compact savings line every time Lineman compresses a tool result. Compression is automatic, there's no extra prompt to write.

[Lineman] saved 87% on Bash(git log --stat -5)
[Lineman] saved 64% on Read(apps/lineman/data-api/src/server.ts)
[Lineman] saved 91% on Bash(pnpm test apps/lineman/mcp)

The percentage is the share of tokens Lineman removed from the tool result before it reached Claude, bigger files and longer outputs save more.

If something doesn't work

  • No savings lines after step 5?

    Start a fresh Claude Code session after install, because hooks only load at session start. Run npx -y @lineman-io/cli@latest doctor to verify the wiring, then try a task with a large output (a multi-file git log, a test run, a long grep). Small outputs deliberately pass through uncompressed.

  • Sign-in browser didn't open?

    npx -y @lineman-io/cli@latest setup prints the sign-in URL to your terminal as a fallback: open it manually in any browser. The token is written to ~/.lineman/config.json when sign-in finishes.

  • Want to check your plan or usage?

    The dashboard shows token usage, your current tier, and lets you upgrade. Tier limits and pricing are on the pricing page.

Last updated: June 2026