Brian Frost Los Angeles 6H AGO

I built a model dispatcher to avoid paying premium usage for simple tasks. In Claude, every task runs on the model used by the current session, so a two-line formatting fix can consume the same level of model capacity as a difficult strategic problem. I had Claude build a scoring system that evaluates each task across six dimensions: required reasoning, the amount of context, the importance of craft or nuance, whether speed is the priority, the number of agentic parts involved, and the potential consequences if something goes wrong. Based on the score, it recommends a model—from a light, fast option for rote work to the most capable option for genuinely difficult tasks—and suggests how much effort that model should apply. The key design choice is that the dispatcher never spends anything automatically. Scoring is free and instant, while sending the task to a model through the API costs real money. Dispatching therefore requires an explicit confirmation flag every time. Nothing runs without me saying go. The payoff is not dramatic from day to day. It comes from many small savings that add up, along with a habit shift: I check the router before sending a task instead of wondering afterward why a simple request cost more than it should have. Step-by-step: 1. I identified the problem: every task in a Claude session uses the current model, even when the task is simple. 2. I had Claude build a scoring system that evaluates each task across six dimensions: reasoning, context, craft or nuance, speed, agentic complexity, and the potential consequences of failure. 3. I used the score to recommend an appropriate model, from a light and fast model for rote work to the heaviest model for genuinely difficult tasks. 4. I included a recommendation for how much effort the selected model should apply. 5. I kept scoring free and separate from dispatching, since sending a task through the API costs money. 6. I required an explicit confirmation flag before dispatching any task, so nothing runs automatically. 7. I check the router before sending tasks and benefit from small savings that accumulate over time.