Glossary
Token
A token is a unit of text processed by a language model, often a word fragment, punctuation mark or short word. Models read and generate sequences of tokens, and context limits and usage costs are commonly expressed as token counts rather than word counts.
In plain terms
Tokens are the small text pieces an AI model reads and writes.
Why it matters
Token limits help explain why engines retrieve selected passages instead of feeding every page in full to the model.
How to apply it
- Lead with the useful answer rather than long preamble.
- Keep evidence close to the claim it supports.
- Do not optimize prose for token count at the expense of clarity.
Example
A 2,000-word article becomes more than 2,000 tokens and may be represented by only its most relevant chunks during retrieval.
Sources
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