---
title: route-task
description: Classify a plain-English script and either run it as a single task or recommend the right durable workflow.
---

`route-task` is the concierge entry point to the pack. Describe what you want in
plain English and it decides whether the work is a quick one-shot task it should
just do, or a durable job that belongs in a real workflow. It then either runs it
or hands you the best-fit workflow to run instead.

```bash
bunx smithers-orchestrator workflow run route-task \
  --prompt "Summarize what changed in the last 10 commits"
```

Use this when you have a task but aren't sure which workflow to reach for. The
classifier is cheap and fast; only the chosen path spends a smart agent.

## Stages

1. **classify**: sort the script into a task `mode` and decide `durable` (does it
   need ordering, crash-recovery, approval, or loops?). Cheap/fast agent.
2. **execute**: non-durable path. A tool-using agent actually does the work in a
   single pass and reports `{ summary, done }`.
3. **recommend**: durable path. A smart agent points at the single best-fit
   seeded workflow (`implement`, `research-plan-implement`, `review`, `plan`,
   `research`, `grill-me`, `ralph`, `debug`, `audit`, `create-workflow`,
   `create-skill`, `extract-skill`, `context-doctor`,
   `triage-run`, `report-slideshow`, `eval-author`, `improve-test-coverage`)
   and explains why. The recommendation is schema-enforced to one of those
   ids, so a hallucinated workflow id fails validation instead of flowing
   downstream.

Only one of `execute` or `recommend` runs, gated on the classifier's `durable`
verdict.

## Inputs

| Input | Type | Default |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `prompt` | string | `"Describe the task you want Smithers to handle, in plain English."` |

## Monitor it

```bash
bunx smithers-orchestrator workflow run route-task --prompt "…" -d   # detach
bunx smithers-orchestrator ps                                        # active / paused / recent
bunx smithers-orchestrator logs RUN_ID -f                           # follow events
```

When `route-task` recommends a durable workflow, run it directly, for example
`bunx smithers-orchestrator workflow run implement --prompt "…"`.
