How much water does Claude Code use? I built a CLI to measure it

Описание и применение

CLI "drip" измеряет потребление воды AI‑агентами Claude Code и Codex, используя реальные токен‑счёты из локальных логов и коэффициенты из исследований. В сентябре использовано 47,8 л воды.

Задача

Users want to know the water consumption of AI coding agents like Claude Code and Codex CLI.

Результат

In September, the author’s AI coding agents used about 47.8 litres of water, roughly eight toilet flushes. The CLI provides a live meter and detailed breakdowns, enabling users to track trends and compare usage.

Рабочий процесс

• Clone the repo and run the install script to add drip to PATH
• Drip reads local Claude Code and Codex logs to count input, output, cache‑read, and cache‑write tokens
• It applies energy‑per‑token coefficients from Microsoft and Google studies
• It multiplies by water‑per‑kWh derived from Lawrence Berkeley Lab and Li et al.
• Drip displays the result in the terminal status line or a split‑pane meter
• Users can view a detailed breakdown page with per‑model, per‑token‑type data and historical trends

Доказательства

My AI coding agents used about 47.8 litres of water in September

Источник

drip reads your agent's local logs, so the token counts aren't guesses.

Источник

Water per kWh comes from Lawrence Berkeley National Lab's 2024 US data center report and Li et al., Making AI Less Thirsty (CACM 2025). Mid estimate: about 3.6 L/kWh including generation, about 0.4 L/kWh on site only.

Источник