# Quick start


# Quick start

banish sits between your agent's Bash tool and the shell. It runs the real
command, strips the noise from the output, and returns a compact version. Here is
the whole loop in three commands.

## 1. Wire it into your agent

```sh
banish init claude-code
```

This adds the PreToolUse hook that rewrites shell commands to run through banish.
For other agents, see [set up an agent](/docs/getting-started/set-up-an-agent).

## 2. Run a command

Run anything your agent already runs. The same `git status`, before and after:

```text
git status            raw: 176 tokens
-----------------------------------
On branch main
Your branch is up to date with 'origin/main'.

Changes not staged for commit:
  modified:   cmd/banish/gain.go
  modified:   internal/runtime/fallback.go
...

git status            via banish: 12 tokens (93% saved)
-----------------------------------
main
  modified:   cmd/banish/gain.go
  modified:   internal/runtime/fallback.go
```

## 3. Watch the savings add up

```sh
banish gain
```

banish keeps a running total across sessions. Run `banish gain` any time to see
how many tokens it has saved you.

> If a filter ever fails, banish returns the raw output and records zero savings
> for that run. A broken filter can never lose your data. And when a filter
> compacts a large output, the result ends with
> [an audit footer](/docs/concepts/audit-footer) - `banish raw <hash>` brings
> the original back byte for byte.