Routing Agent Work

Route Agent Work

Route only when the selection can change the result. Continue with the current agent when no delegation choice exists.

The caller owns orchestration mechanics. Orchestration hosts include Herdr, Orca, Conductor, and Solo. Worker CLIs are Claude, Codex, Grok, and OpenCode.

Define the lane

Write one bounded contract before selecting a model:

• primary output and completion check;
• allowed files, tools, and state changes;
• required evidence or tests;
• context the worker needs;
• report destination.

Split work only when lanes can progress independently, isolate risk, or provide independent review. Do not create lanes to increase agent count.

Select the route

Read references/fleet.md before choosing a model, effort, fallback, or reviewer.

Apply these decision axes in order:

1. Lane fit: match the model to the primary output.
2. Failure cost: use a stronger route or independent review when errors are expensive.
3. Constraints: check context length, modality, privacy, tool use, and available providers.
4. Cost and latency: use them as tie-breakers between routes that can meet the quality bar.

Use only the fixed fleet. Try listed fallbacks in order. If every listed route is unavailable, mark the lane Unrouted.

When the caller pins only the worker CLI, choose a fleet route on that CLI. Mark the lane Unrouted when none fits.

An Unrouted lane does not launch. Return it to the caller for an explicit constraint change or fleet update.

Before launch, confirm only the selected configured identifier and effort control through host status or a targeted CLI check. If the identifier fails, try the next fallback. If only the effort value fails, use a supported value that meets the lane requirement and model floor. If none fits, try the next fallback. Do not enumerate or score unrelated models.

Before rejecting a new or recently updated OpenCode identifier, refresh its model catalog once:

opencode models --refresh

Then use opencode models <provider> to check only the selected provider. Treat an identifier absent after refresh as unavailable, then use the listed fallback. Skip the refresh when host status already confirms the identifier.

Set effort

Set the model and effort explicitly for each worker and nested worker. Never rely on an unverified default.

• Use medium for bounded, clear, low-risk work.
• Use high for meaningful implementation, research, review, and synthesis.
• Use xhigh for hard planning, debugging, synthesis, and adversarial review.
• Use max or ultra for the hardest quality-first work with a clear stopping condition.
• Never use an effort below medium. Apply each model's range and floor from the fleet reference.

Use only supported effort values. Omit an unsupported flag only when the configured route confirms the required mode.

Shape the delegation tree

Use one direct worker for one bounded lane. Use a sub-orchestrator when a lane contains several independent sublanes.

One worker layer plus one nested layer is usually sufficient. This is guidance, not a universal limit.

Ask a sub-orchestrator to load routing-agent-work only when it must choose child routes and can load the skill. Otherwise, pass each child route in its brief. Each child reports only to its direct parent.

The parent watches completion signals. It requests more context only when the compact report cannot support a decision.

Add independent review

Add review when the failure cost justifies it. Give the reviewer a fresh context with the specification and artifact first.

Prefer a capable reviewer from a different model family. Treat model diversity as a clue, not proof of independence.

Require reproducible evidence. Ask for tests, paths, commands, or cited sources instead of an unsupported verdict.

Handle prose

Treat prose as a separate lane only when prose is a meaningful deliverable. Keep the existing worker when it can write the required text well.

Use ASD-STE100 for comments, documentation, reviews, pull request text, and user-facing explanations. Opus 5 is the quality-first default for technical prose.

Return a route card

Return one compact card for each lane:

Lane: <bounded output>
Worker CLI: <Claude | Codex | Grok | OpenCode | none>
Model: <fixed fleet model | Unrouted>
Effort: <explicit supported value | none>
Reason: <lane fit and failure-cost rationale>
Verified: <host status or targeted CLI check>
Fallback: <next fixed-fleet model, or none>
Reviewer: <different-family fixed-fleet model, or none>
Report contract: <result, artifact paths, checks, risks, blockers>

The worker returns the result, evidence paths, completed checks, unresolved risks, and blockers. It does not return a full transcript.