> Is there any benefit to pruning?

1- Better quality output due to pruning noise, while reducing the chances of missing key context.

2- Saving time/effort by not using my brain to decide which files to include.

3- ChatGPT 5.2 Pro only allows 60k tokens, so I have no choice sometimes.

It comes with costs as you identified. It's a trade-off that I am willing to pay.