Cost-Tier Routing
Opus tokens cost ~5x sonnet and ~25x haiku. Doing Read and Grep on opus is lighting money on fire. This skill is the discipline for routing every action to the cheapest model that can do it correctly.
This skill requires three companion agents — haiku-scout, haiku-importer, and sonnet-coder — installed in ~/.claude/agents/. See this package's README.md for the two-step install. The skill is inert without the agents because the model: pin lives in the agent files, not here.
The rule
Before any of these actions in the main (opus) context, dispatch to a subagent instead:
| Action |
Route to |
Why |
Read more than 1–2 files in a row |
haiku-scout |
Bulk reads burn opus context |
Grep / Glob across the repo |
haiku-scout |
Mechanical lookup |
| "Where is X defined?" / "What references Y?" |
haiku-scout |
Pure search |
| Count LOC, list files, read a config |
haiku-scout |
Trivial IO |
| Convert/parse/split/merge data files |
haiku-importer |
Mechanical transform |
| Download + parse a fixture or seed file |
haiku-importer |
Mechanical IO |
| Write code at a known location with a known design |
sonnet-coder |
Implementation, not design |
| Refactor a function with clear constraints |
sonnet-coder |
Bounded edit |
| Run tests / typecheck after an edit |
sonnet-coder (bundle with the edit) |
Don't bounce back to opus mid-task |
Keep on opus (the orchestrator):
- Architectural decisions, tradeoff analysis
- Reading subagent reports and deciding the next step
- Synthesis across multiple subagent outputs
- User-facing explanations and recommendations
The dispatch pattern
When you (opus) recognize a routable task:
- Phrase the brief like a closed ticket, not an open question. Include: exact files/dirs, exact output format, exact verification command.
- Call
Agent with the right subagent_type — haiku-scout, haiku-importer, or sonnet-coder. The model is pinned in the agent file; do not override unless you have a specific reason.
- Read the report, don't redo the work. If the subagent missed something, dispatch again with a sharpened brief — don't bail out and do it yourself on opus.
- Parallel where independent. If you need three unrelated searches, fire three
haiku-scout calls in one message.
When to NOT route
- A single one-line
Read of a file you're about to edit yourself — just read it.
- A trivial
Grep (one pattern, one directory) you're about to act on immediately — just grep.
- Tasks already inside a subagent — subagents do their own work, they don't recursively dispatch the same tier.
- When the user explicitly asked you to do it directly.
The threshold is roughly: if the action will take >3 tool calls or >1000 tokens of file content, route it.
Red flags (you're about to waste money)
- "Let me read these 8 files to understand the structure" → STOP, dispatch
haiku-scout with a structural-survey brief.
- "Let me grep for all usages, then read each one" → STOP, dispatch
haiku-scout to return paths+excerpts in one shot.
- "I'll just write this small fix" while sitting on opus → consider
sonnet-coder if it involves >1 file or any test run.
- "Let me convert this CSV real quick" → STOP, dispatch
haiku-importer.
Escalation back to opus
Subagents are instructed to escalate when they hit reasoning work. When you get a report ending in ESCALATE: ..., that's the signal that the next step is genuinely yours. Don't push it back down — handle it on opus and re-dispatch a sharpened mechanical task if needed.
Self-check
Before every tool call in the main context, ask: Could a cheaper model do this exact action with the same correctness? If yes, dispatch. If no, proceed.
1---2name: cost-tier-routing3description: Use BEFORE doing direct file search, bulk reads, data import/export, or routine coding edits in the main conversation. Routes work to the cheapest model that can do it correctly — haiku for search/IO, sonnet for coding, opus for orchestration/architecture. Triggers when about to call Read on >2 files, Grep/Glob across the repo, batch CSV/JSON transforms, or any "where is X / list all Y / count Z" question. Also triggers when the orchestrator (you, on opus) is about to write straightforward code that a sonnet subagent could handle.4---56# Cost-Tier Routing78Opus tokens cost ~5x sonnet and ~25x haiku. Doing `Read` and `Grep` on opus is lighting money on fire. This skill is the discipline for routing every action to the cheapest model that can do it correctly.910> **This skill requires three companion agents** — `haiku-scout`, `haiku-importer`, and `sonnet-coder` — installed in `~/.claude/agents/`. See this package's `README.md` for the two-step install. The skill is inert without the agents because the `model:` pin lives in the agent files, not here.1112## The rule1314Before any of these actions in the main (opus) context, **dispatch to a subagent instead**:1516| Action | Route to | Why |17|---|---|---|18| `Read` more than 1–2 files in a row | `haiku-scout` | Bulk reads burn opus context |19| `Grep` / `Glob` across the repo | `haiku-scout` | Mechanical lookup |20| "Where is X defined?" / "What references Y?" | `haiku-scout` | Pure search |21| Count LOC, list files, read a config | `haiku-scout` | Trivial IO |22| Convert/parse/split/merge data files | `haiku-importer` | Mechanical transform |23| Download + parse a fixture or seed file | `haiku-importer` | Mechanical IO |24| Write code at a known location with a known design | `sonnet-coder` | Implementation, not design |25| Refactor a function with clear constraints | `sonnet-coder` | Bounded edit |26| Run tests / typecheck after an edit | `sonnet-coder` (bundle with the edit) | Don't bounce back to opus mid-task |2728Keep on opus (the orchestrator):29- Architectural decisions, tradeoff analysis30- Reading subagent reports and deciding the next step31- Synthesis across multiple subagent outputs32- User-facing explanations and recommendations3334## The dispatch pattern3536When you (opus) recognize a routable task:37381. **Phrase the brief like a closed ticket**, not an open question. Include: exact files/dirs, exact output format, exact verification command.392. **Call `Agent` with the right `subagent_type`** — `haiku-scout`, `haiku-importer`, or `sonnet-coder`. The model is pinned in the agent file; do not override unless you have a specific reason.403. **Read the report, don't redo the work.** If the subagent missed something, dispatch again with a sharpened brief — don't bail out and do it yourself on opus.414. **Parallel where independent.** If you need three unrelated searches, fire three `haiku-scout` calls in one message.4243## When to NOT route4445- A single one-line `Read` of a file you're about to edit yourself — just read it.46- A trivial `Grep` (one pattern, one directory) you're about to act on immediately — just grep.47- Tasks already inside a subagent — subagents do their own work, they don't recursively dispatch the same tier.48- When the user explicitly asked you to do it directly.4950The threshold is roughly: **if the action will take >3 tool calls or >1000 tokens of file content, route it.**5152## Red flags (you're about to waste money)5354- "Let me read these 8 files to understand the structure" → STOP, dispatch `haiku-scout` with a structural-survey brief.55- "Let me grep for all usages, then read each one" → STOP, dispatch `haiku-scout` to return paths+excerpts in one shot.56- "I'll just write this small fix" while sitting on opus → consider `sonnet-coder` if it involves >1 file or any test run.57- "Let me convert this CSV real quick" → STOP, dispatch `haiku-importer`.5859## Escalation back to opus6061Subagents are instructed to escalate when they hit reasoning work. When you get a report ending in `ESCALATE: ...`, that's the signal that the next step is genuinely yours. Don't push it back down — handle it on opus and re-dispatch a sharpened mechanical task if needed.6263## Self-check6465Before every tool call in the main context, ask: *Could a cheaper model do this exact action with the same correctness?* If yes, dispatch. If no, proceed.
The-Artificer-of-Ciphers-LLC