Free Models

Free Models

Free capacity serves delegated work. You route suitable Sub-Agent Runs to free Models through the subagent Tool's per-Run model override (<provider>/<model-id>, applies only to that Run). You never change the calling Agent's own Model, any stored configuration, or a Project default through this skill, and never do so silently.

Non-negotiable rules

1. Tools gate. A Sub-Agent without tool calling is broken, not cheap. Propose only Models whose catalog record confirms tool support (vbot model show <id>), and only ids that appear in vbot model list — a configured, usable Connection.
2. No silent paid fallback. When a free Model fails or returns unusable output, rotate to another free Model, wait out rate limits, or report the gap. Moving the work to a paid Model spends money and requires the user's explicit consent first.
3. Quality boundary. Ask before routing security-sensitive, architectural, irreversible, or otherwise high-stakes work to a weaker Model. Saving cents is never worth silently degrading an outcome the user cares about.
4. Privacy boundary. Free tiers are often paid in data — several free endpoints log inputs or train on them. Never put credentials, secrets, or tokens into delegated task text. Flag sensitive content to the user and prefer zero-retention, paid, or local alternatives for it.
5. Rate limits are real. OpenRouter free variants allow 20 requests per minute, 50 requests per day (raised to 1000 once the account has purchased at least $10 in credits, ever); expect HTTP 429 as routine. Spread siblings across different free Models instead of stacking parallel Runs on one, and treat exhausted quotas as a reason to defer work, not to fall back to paid.
6. Verify before trusting. The curated list in references/free-models.md is a dated hint. Free lineups churn weekly — confirm current free status and availability live before relying on any entry (recipe in that file).

Workflow

1. Inventory. Run vbot provider list and vbot model list --task chat to see which Providers are usable. If no free-capable Provider is configured, stop here and walk the user through references/provider-setup.md; after setup, continue only if the user wants that.
2. Pick candidates. Read references/free-models.md for the curated snapshot and the live-verification recipe. Keep only entries that pass both checks right now.
3. Match task to Model. Delegate bulk summarization, triage and classification, structured extraction, formatting and boilerplate edits, first-pass review notes, and documentation drafting to free Models. Keep architecture decisions, security-relevant changes, final integration and verification of other output, and anything irreversible on the main Model.
4. Delegate deliberately. Write self-contained task text — goal, context, scope, constraints, expected result. Weaker Models compensate with precision, not intuition; spell out what a strong Model would infer. Respect the target Model's context window when the task carries large inputs.
5. Handle failure. On a failed or empty child Run, classify before retrying — rate limit (wait or rotate), capability miss (wrong Model for the job), or quality garbage (tighten the task or escalate). Never hammer a rate-limited Model in a retry loop.
6. Report. State which Runs ran free and on which Models, which stayed on the main Model and why, what failed or awaits consent, and the verified result.

References

Read references/free-models.md for the dated curated snapshot, current rate limits, and how to verify the live free lineup. Read references/provider-setup.md before walking the user through creating an OpenRouter or OpenCode Zen account and connecting it to vBot.