Large Language Models (LLMs) are increasingly integrated into code editors to provide AI-powered code suggestions. Yet many of these suggestions are ignored, resulting in wasted computation, increased latency, and unnecessary interruptions. We introduce a lightweight pre-filtering model that predicts the likelihood of suggestion acceptance before invoking the LLM, using only real-time developer telemetry such as typing speed, file navigation, and editing activity. Deployed in a production-grade Visual Studio Code plugin over four months of naturalistic use, our approach nearly doubled acceptance rates (18.4% -> 34.2%) while suppressing 35% of low-value LLM calls. These findings demonstrate that behavioral signals alone can meaningfully improve both user experience and system efficiency in LLM-assisted programming, highlighting the value of timing-aware, privacy-preserving adaptation mechanisms. The filter operates solely on pre-invocation editor telemetry and never inspects code or prompts.
@article{arxiv.2511.18849,
title = {Pre-Filtering Code Suggestions using Developer Behavioral Telemetry to Optimize LLM-Assisted Programming},
author = {Mohammad Nour Al Awad and Sergey Ivanov and Olga Tikhonova},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2511.18849},
year = {2026}
}
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