The token cascade, explained
Three things you need to know: the four pillars (what tokens are), the cascade (how they compound), and the yield formula (how we measure it). Visual, not abstract.
Every turn, tokens flow through the model in four ways. Two go in (fresh input + reused cache). Two come out (the answer + saved context). The ratio between them is your cascade.
Cache read costs $0.30/M — 10× cheaper than fresh input at $3/M. The cascade is the art of replacing input with cache read.
Each turn, output becomes cache write, which becomes cache read for the next turn. Fresh input shrinks. Cache grows. Output compounds. This is the snowball.
By turn 50, fresh input is 2 tokens. Cache read is 2.5 million. The model already knows the whole project. You stopped re-explaining. The cascade compounds on its own.
Yield (Υ) is the headline number. It measures how much your cascade compounds. Two factors: how much you reuse (leverage) and how much you produce (velocity).
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