diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 370c114..15f3c30 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -219,17 +219,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "generic-array",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "bstr"
-version = "1.12.1"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "63044e1ae8e69f3b5a92c736ca6269b8d12fa7efe39bf34ddb06d102cf0e2cab"
-dependencies = [
- "memchr",
- "regex-automata",
- "serde",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "bumpalo"
 version = "3.20.2"
@@ -894,17 +883,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "regex",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "fancy-regex"
-version = "0.13.0"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "531e46835a22af56d1e3b66f04844bed63158bc094a628bec1d321d9b4c44bf2"
-dependencies = [
- "bit-set",
- "regex-automata",
- "regex-syntax",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "figment"
 version = "0.10.19"
@@ -1965,7 +1943,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "serde_json",
  "serde_urlencoded",
  "skillratings",
- "tiktoken-rs",
  "tokenizers",
  "tokio",
  "tokio-rustls",
@@ -2393,12 +2370,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "syn 1.0.109",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "rustc-hash"
-version = "1.1.0"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "08d43f7aa6b08d49f382cde6a7982047c3426db949b1424bc4b7ec9ae12c6ce2"
-
 [[package]]
 name = "rustc_version"
 version = "0.4.1"
@@ -2784,7 +2755,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
  "base64 0.22.1",
  "bitflags 2.11.0",
- "fancy-regex 0.11.0",
+ "fancy-regex",
  "filedescriptor",
  "finl_unicode",
  "fixedbitset",
@@ -2857,21 +2828,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "syn 2.0.117",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "tiktoken-rs"
-version = "0.9.1"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "3a19830747d9034cd9da43a60eaa8e552dfda7712424aebf187b7a60126bae0d"
-dependencies = [
- "anyhow",
- "base64 0.22.1",
- "bstr",
- "fancy-regex 0.13.0",
- "lazy_static",
- "regex",
- "rustc-hash",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "time"
 version = "0.3.47"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 0ddaca9..1cc4547 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -59,7 +59,6 @@ futures = "0.3"
 capnp = "0.25"
 capnp-rpc = "0.25"
 
-tiktoken-rs = "0.9.1"
 tokenizers = "0.21"
 skillratings = "0.28"
 
diff --git a/src/agent/context.rs b/src/agent/context.rs
index 8f53d8e..2e92b8f 100644
--- a/src/agent/context.rs
+++ b/src/agent/context.rs
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@
 use crate::agent::api::*;
 use chrono::{DateTime, Utc};
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
-use tiktoken_rs::CoreBPE;
 use crate::agent::tools::working_stack;
 
 // --- Context state types ---
@@ -254,26 +253,6 @@ fn lowest_scored_memory(entries: &[ContextEntry]) -> Option<usize> {
         .map(|(i, _)| i)
 }
 
-/// Count the token footprint of a message using BPE tokenization.
-pub fn msg_token_count(tokenizer: &CoreBPE, msg: &Message) -> usize {
-    let count = |s: &str| tokenizer.encode_with_special_tokens(s).len();
-    let content = msg.content.as_ref().map_or(0, |c| match c {
-        MessageContent::Text(s) => count(s),
-        MessageContent::Parts(parts) => parts.iter()
-            .map(|p| match p {
-                ContentPart::Text { text } => count(text),
-                ContentPart::ImageUrl { .. } => 85,
-            })
-            .sum(),
-    });
-    let tools = msg.tool_calls.as_ref().map_or(0, |calls| {
-        calls.iter()
-            .map(|c| count(&c.function.arguments) + count(&c.function.name))
-            .sum()
-    });
-    content + tools
-}
-
 /// Detect context window overflow errors from the API.
 pub fn is_context_overflow(err: &anyhow::Error) -> bool {
     let msg = err.to_string().to_lowercase();
diff --git a/src/agent/mod.rs b/src/agent/mod.rs
index e3dfe62..b449938 100644
--- a/src/agent/mod.rs
+++ b/src/agent/mod.rs
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ pub mod tools;
 
 use std::sync::Arc;
 use anyhow::Result;
-use tiktoken_rs::CoreBPE;
 
 use api::{ApiClient, ToolCall};
 use api::{ContentPart, Message, MessageContent, Role};
@@ -163,9 +162,6 @@ pub struct Agent {
     pub provenance: String,
     /// Persistent conversation log — append-only record of all messages.
     pub conversation_log: Option<ConversationLog>,
-    /// BPE tokenizer for token counting (cl100k_base — close enough
-    /// for Claude and Qwen budget allocation, ~85-90% count accuracy).
-    tokenizer: CoreBPE,
     /// Mutable context state — personality, working stack, etc.
     pub context: ContextState,
     /// App config — used to reload identity on compaction and model switching.
@@ -193,9 +189,6 @@ impl Agent {
         conversation_log: Option<ConversationLog>,
         active_tools: tools::SharedActiveTools,
     ) -> Self {
-        let tokenizer = tiktoken_rs::cl100k_base()
-            .expect("failed to load cl100k_base tokenizer");
-
         let mut system = ContextSection::new("System prompt");
         system.push(ContextEntry::new(
             ConversationEntry::System(Message::system(&system_prompt)), None));
@@ -227,7 +220,6 @@ impl Agent {
             pending_dmn_pause: false,
             provenance: "manual".to_string(),
             conversation_log,
-            tokenizer,
             context,
             app_config,
             prompt_file,
@@ -249,8 +241,6 @@ impl Agent {
     /// personality, journal, entries) for KV cache sharing. The caller
     /// appends the subconscious prompt as a user message and runs the turn.
     pub fn fork(&self, tools: Vec<tools::Tool>) -> Self {
-        let tokenizer = tiktoken_rs::cl100k_base()
-            .expect("failed to load cl100k_base tokenizer");
 
         Self {
             client: self.client.clone(),
@@ -267,7 +257,6 @@ impl Agent {
             pending_dmn_pause: false,
             provenance: self.provenance.clone(),
             conversation_log: None,
-            tokenizer,
             context: self.context.clone(),
             app_config: self.app_config.clone(),
             prompt_file: self.prompt_file.clone(),