AntreasAntoniou Token-Efficient Orchestra
Apply model allocation as a second pass after choosing the graph. The topology decides what each node does; this overlay decides how much capability and reasoning budget each node receives.
Core assignment
- Mechanical tier: deterministic extraction, listing, and normalization with a tight schema.
- Worker tier: redundant drafters, code writers, test authors, and reviewers whose outputs will be independently checked.
- Advanced tier: difficult single workers and medium-stakes comparators.
- Supervisor tier: arbiters, adversaries, integrators, escalation decisions, and final gates.
The one-line rule: redundancy can economize; chokepoints should upgrade.
Why the asymmetry works
Workers are redundant by design, so the graph can reject a weak attempt. A supervisor is singular: its judgment selects what survives. An error at that chokepoint becomes the output. The verifier should therefore be at least as capable as the worker it evaluates, and preferably use a different model family when correlated blind spots matter.
| Role | Suggested tier | Reasoning effort |
|---|---|---|
| Mechanical extraction | mechanical | low |
| Redundant worker or test author | worker | normal |
| Difficult single worker | advanced | high |
| Comparator | advanced or supervisor | normal to high |
| Adversary or arbiter | supervisor | high |
| Integrator or irreversible-action gate | supervisor | high |
Adapter example
Map these symbolic tiers to models offered by your runtime and tag every node explicitly:
const MODELS = {
worker: process.env.ORCHESTRA_WORKER_MODEL,
advanced: process.env.ORCHESTRA_ADVANCED_MODEL,
supervisor: process.env.ORCHESTRA_SUPERVISOR_MODEL,
}
const drafts = await parallel([
() => agent(spec, {label: 'worker:hector', model: MODELS.worker, schema: PATCH}),
() => agent(spec, {label: 'worker:prometheus', model: MODELS.worker, schema: PATCH}),
])
const verdict = await agent(arbitrate(drafts), {
label: 'arbiter:athena', model: MODELS.supervisor, effort: 'high', schema: VERDICT,
})
Omitting a model may inherit an expensive or underpowered session default. In this overlay, an untagged node is a configuration error.
Do not economize
- Single-agent tasks, where one call is both worker and judge.
- Security-critical or irreversible operations such as migrations, deletion, deployment, or publication.
- Final prose when the shipped artifact is writing.
- Repeated worker failures: upgrade once instead of buying more rejected attempts.
Provider price and model quality change. Benchmark the models available to you and treat this assignment as a decision framework, not a permanent leaderboard.