Files
claude/lib/effort-shift.md
T
bchanot 1f2d33b7a6 feat(model-router): wave 2-B — orchestrators declare phases, shifters and pins removed, frontmatter = off-state floor
The 15 Skill(effort-*) citers now call mcp__model-router__route per phase
(orchestrate at a dispatch span, reflect/plan for the skill's own level,
apply at the bookkeeping tail, escalate at the verify-secure caps); built-in
judgment dispatches carry an explicit effort= param. lib/effort-shift.md is
the route doctrine, lib/model-gate.md the mod rule (route answer = witness,
/route on as remedy). Deleted: skills/effort-*, lib/effort-pins.txt/.sh,
lib/model-check.sh, their tests, the installers' re-apply blocks. The mod
drops its Skill(effort-*) bridge. The tracked model:/effort: frontmatter
stays as the off-state floor, census-locked equal to the rows
(lib/tests/effort-routing.test.sh rewritten, 140 checks; analyzer → xhigh).

Contract .claude/tasks/contracts/2026-10-10-model-router-w2b-1045.md, plan
r4 § W2-B: GATE 0 MET, verifier ECARTS(7) then CONFORME 10/10, security
PASS, full make test green (design-tool-gate env red only).
2026-10-10 11:24:54 +02:00

2.7 KiB

Route doctrine — phase-level model and effort on the main loop (BDR-107)

Shared include, companion of lib/model-gate.md: the gate fixes WHICH model reflects, the model-router mod (mods/model-router) fixes HOW HARD each phase thinks. Rungs: low (fix a line, run a script) · medium (day-to-day) · high (refactor, resisting bug) · xhigh (architecture, audit before validation) · max (stuck error, judged need).

The tool

mcp__model-router__route (params phase | effort | clear). It is a deferred tool: when not loaded, run ToolSearch("select:mcp__model-router__route") once per session. A route applies from the next request on, paired with another tool call or not (pairing only saves a request). The answer always names the id and effort main runs on. A skill with a row routes itself on load; a skill without one changes nothing, the last ROWED skill wins.

Wiring points

  1. Dispatch span starts → route(phase="orchestrate"), sent with the dispatch.
  2. Reflection resumes (challenge synthesis, verdict, plan revision) → route(phase="reflect") or "plan" per the skill's own level; the line before every lib/challenge-plan.md call.
  3. Bookkeeping tail (memory commit, doc commit) → route(phase="apply").
  4. Escalation → route(phase="escalate"): verify-secure loop caps and ship-feature STEP 4b. Not automatic: the challenge fail-safe and "gone WRONG → STOP"; their STOP text names the levers below.
  5. Built-in judgment dispatch (general-purpose model="opus", model: "fable" skill-runners) → explicit effort= on the Agent call (xhigh for opus reviewers, high for fable runners). A main route never reaches a child. Typed agents run on their row, never on a shift.
  6. After a prose gate that ends the turn, the resumed reflection phase starts with its own route call.

Run slot and levers

A best-tier skill row survives the end of the turn (a run spans prose gates); /route clear, /route off and a user /model drop it. Levers for a relaunch: ultrathink in the prompt (turn floor) or /route effort=max (sticky, /route clear after). Builtin /effort is NOT a lever inside a run: rows and routes outrank it.

Limits

  • A skill typed while a background agent is live routes only through the typed marker (unverified live 2026-10-10).
  • Headless (-p, SDK) runs the hooks, so routing works there too.
  • Mod off: typed agents fall back to their model:/effort: frontmatter.

Measure the split any time: python3 ~/.claude/lib/effort-audit.py (thinking/output/cache tokens per scope, model and effort).

Never

  • A route inside a dispatched agent: its row rules there.
  • Max is for diagnosis, not for retrying the same fix harder.