Oops, My Bolt Project Ate All the Tokens – Here’s How I Survived

So… my Bolt project got too chunky and I got hit with the “Large Project Size Alert” popup like 10 times. Felt like my codebase turned into Godzilla and started eating tokens for breakfast.

But after spending a wild amount of tokens and arguing with the AI (which was mostly my fault), here’s what I learned — hopefully, it saves you some credits, sanity, and time:

What I Learned the Hard Way:

Use Discussion Mode unless you're actually building — it uses 90% fewer tokens. Think of it as “low power mode” for your wallet.
Don’t spam “Attempt Fix” — it’s not a magic button, it’s a money button. Check the result first.
Split your app: Separate frontend & backend into different Bolt projects. I call mine “Frontend Frenzy” and “Backend Boss.”
Run this in terminal: npx knip --production --fix — it’s like Marie Kondo for your code.
Clean unused files. If Bolt tells you “Project size exceeded,” don’t ignore it. That’s your cue to declutter.
Use .bolt/ignore to hide files the AI doesn’t need. It's like giving the AI blinders so it stops overthinking.
Reset AI context (aka “start fresh”): Duplicate your project and re-upload a chat summary as a file. It’s like therapy for your AI.
Add features one at a time — don’t throw your entire wishlist into one message. It confuses the AI and you’ll burn tokens fast.
Ask the AI to add error handling + logging — it helps it debug smarter the next time.

What NOT to Do (trust me ):

Don’t describe 4 new features in one go — your token meter will explode.

Don’t keep retrying failed fixes without checking logs or giving new instructions.

Don’t forget to export backups — Bolt isn’t your personal GitHub (yet).

Don’t treat the AI like a senior dev — it’s more like an intern that’s really good at writing but needs your guidance.

Final Pro Tip:
Summarize your chat history and reuse it when you duplicate the project. I now keep a markdown summary ready to upload when things get bloated.

Here’s the official guide that saved me from eternal token doom:
https://support.bolt.new/best-practices/maximizing-token-efficiency#split-the-project

Hope this helps some other tired soul in the trenches
Let me know if you’ve found other tricks too!