Dev Tools · 3h ago
Developer's compression format fails readability test for LLMs
A developer built ctxfold, a lossless compression format for LLM prompts, and tested its CSV encoder by asking GPT-4o-mini to look up records. Raw CSV scored 24/24, but folded CSV scored 0/24, as the model couldn't reconstruct values from the compressed format. Even GPT-4o only managed 6-9/24, revealing that models struggle with indirection through headers.
Meridian48 take
The result underscores a key limitation: compression gains that rely on value reconstruction can break LLM comprehension, a lesson for anyone optimizing prompts for cost or latency.
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I built a readability test for my own compression format. It scored 0/24. →
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llm-prompt-optimizationdata-compression