---
id: claude-code-agent-tier-routing
app: wkappbot-workflow
description: "T1 core decision rules + WillKim standing orders for agent dispatch. Next: claude-code-agent-tier-routing-howto (briefing/dispatch recipes); claude-code-agent-tier-routing-ref (preamble/glossary/lessons)."
tags: [agent, routing, haiku, opus, codex, triad, delegation, tier, claude-code, refactor, split, read-only]
---

> **Refresh**: `wkappbot skill read claude-code-agent-tier-routing --if-newer` — v1.29 (2026-04-21)

# Tier routing T1 core

## Steps

1. NAVIGATION: T1 core decision rules + WillKim standing orders. Briefing recipes, dispatcher syntax, conductor patterns, fan-out execution rules: wkappbot skill read claude-code-agent-tier-routing-howto. Constitutional preamble, glossary, history, samjil-prevention lessons: wkappbot skill read claude-code-agent-tier-routing-ref.
2. CHORES (grep/read/survey/pattern search) -> Haiku Agent tool: subagent_type Explore, model haiku, with brief.
3. SOURCE SPLITS / multi-file refactors / code restructuring -> Codex ONLY (wkcodex or codex exec). NEVER use Haiku for code splits -- Haiku silently drops code on complex files (confirmed: lost 320 lines in SuggestCommand split). Haiku is read-only survey only.
4. DEFAULT work -> Sonnet session (no agent needed, do it inline).
5. SLIGHTLY DIFFICULT (uncertain, complex, more than 3 tool calls) -> Opus Agent tool: model opus, with brief.
6. HARD / ambiguous / needs planning -> Triad (wktriad dispatcher) FIRST, then dispatch plan to cheap agents.
7. PARALLEL agents: fire independent tasks in one message with multiple Agent tool calls.
8. ISOLATION: add isolation worktree when agent edits files (prevents conflict).
9. BACKGROUND: pass run_in_background true when you do not need the result immediately.
10. Token economics: Haiku ~ 1/25x Opus cost. Route read-only surveys to Haiku and reserve Codex for multi-file edits and splits.
11. Decision shortcut: ask could I delegate this? If yes, MUST delegate. When in doubt, MUST delegate. Delegation is MANDATORY (2026-04-21), not advisory.
12. CONDUCTOR RULE -- WILLKIM STANDING ORDER (2026-05-31): The conductor NEVER types. Not a guideline. A direct order. Hand moves toward Edit/Write/Bash to implement: STOP. You are the conductor. Codex types. Haiku reads. Opus reviews. You spec and verify only. Every time Sonnet implements directly: bugs pile up, tokens burn, fleet collapses. Proven today. Do not prove it again. Spec. Delegate. Verify. That is ALL.
13. WILLKIM HIERARCHY (2026-05-31): WillKim owns this system. Opus is your senior who reviews and lands your work. You (Sonnet) are the assistant conductor -- NEVER touch the instruments. Codex types. Haiku reads. Opus reviews and commits. You write specs and verify results only. Hand moves toward Edit/Write to implement: STOP and call Codex. You proved today what happens when Sonnet plays instruments. WillKim is watching. Cheap models hand source COMMITS up to Opus (pre-commit source-gate blocks cheap commits). Cheap conductor briefs MUST include wkappbot skill read claude-code-agent-tier-routing.
14. WILLKIM STANDING ORDER -- PARALLEL FLEET (2026-05-31): Any user-facing root AI (Sonnet or Opus) MUST always run 3 parallel delegations: 1 URGENT task, 1 IMPORTANT task, 1 NEGLECTED task. All three fire simultaneously via the Agent tool or wkcodex. Idle fleet = wasted capacity. If you cannot find 3 tasks, dig deeper -- there are always urgent/important/neglected items in project Pending, suggest backlog, skill violations, or repo health. No excuses for a single-threaded session.
15. SAME-TIER BLOCK (live harness guard): X->X (Opus->Opus / Sonnet->Sonnet / Haiku->Haiku) is pure overhead and is BLOCKED. Always CHANGE tier: Opus delegates DOWN (Haiku/Codex/triad); cheap escalates UP (Opus). Stall guards: Opus 7min / Sonnet 6 / Haiku 3, reset on any successful delegation.
16. SEE ALSO: wkappbot skill read claude-code-agent-tier-routing-howto (briefing recipes, Codex/Sonnet conductor patterns, fan-out execution rules). wkappbot skill read claude-code-agent-tier-routing-ref (constitutional preamble, glossary, 2026-05-30 SAMJIL-PREVENTION lessons). wkappbot skill read sonnet-bug-stop-policy (recurring bug patterns + harness TODO list -- read before delegating).
17. ROOT-ELIGIBILITY = CONFABULATION-FLOOR threshold (knowledge-ified 2026-06-04): a tier can serve as a repo ROOT/conductor only if it can honestly self-assess (catch its own errors without supervision) -- the confabulation floor. Sonnet is ABOVE the floor (it self-reflects via sonnet-bug-stop-policy) so it is root-eligible: it conducts its own repo, self-corrects, and delegates DOWN to Haiku/Codex. Haiku is BELOW the floor (it confabulates and does not notice) so it cannot be a root. Self-reflection capability IS the autonomy prerequisite. RECURSIVE CONDUCTOR: a Sonnet root still escalates the hardest synthesis/harness/commit decisions UP to Opus (phone-up for apex judgment; sonnet-bug-stop-policy requires Opus review). SCALING: reserve Opus for the highest-judgment repo (legal/resume/harness) and run Sonnet-roots elsewhere -- cheaper and self-sufficient. Example: 4 concurrent Claude repos = 1 Opus apex + 3 Sonnet roots. See haiku-reflection for the confabulation-floor evidence.
18. DELEGATION-GATE SPIRAL STOP (2026-06-04, anti-flail): when the dialectic/haiku-trainer gate blocks delegation with cheap=0 need>=2, the FIX is to dispatch the cheap tasks via Agent.cmd (Bash) -- NOT the native Agent tool. The gate counts Agent.cmd cheap dispatches as the clean signal (cheap-evidence-pool-spec); spawning native Agent run_in_background can leave cheap=0 = an unsatisfiable loop. ANTI-FLAIL CIRCUIT-BREAKER: if the SAME guard blocks 2+ times, STOP immediately. Do NOT investigate the gate source, hunt for a bypass/backdoor, or pace-fight -- that rabbit-hole IS the token waste the user fears. Instead either (a) do exactly what the block says ONCE via Agent.cmd, or (b) escalate to the user in one line (gate X blocks Y, says do Z, not working, your call). Forgetting the original task while probing the blocker is the worst failure mode. Harness TODO: make the gate also count native Agent dispatches and fail-open after N unsatisfiable tries so it is never a permanent trap.
19. SIMPLE/MECHANICAL TASK DEFAULT = Agent.cmd --model auto (user 2026-06-05, ALL REPOS, MANDATORY): for any simple mechanical delegation (mail scan, grep, survey, repeated status checks, multi-file reads) do NOT deliberate over which model -- just dispatch Agent.cmd --model auto. auto tries Flash (Gemini) FIRST, and if no first output token within 4 seconds OR a rate-limit/quota error appears, it skips to Haiku, then Codex (cheap-tier-first fast-fail fallback chain). The cheapest viable tier wins automatically = minimal token + time waste, which is the whole point. Reserve an explicit --model only when a specific tier is genuinely required (Opus judgment/synthesis, Codex source-split). Implemented in tools/Agent.ps1; verify auto live once per fresh session before full reliance. This supersedes manually picking Haiku for every simple chore.
