Delegate

Core Rule

Spawn cost < task cost → delegate. Otherwise, do it yourself.

Model Tiers

Tier	Models	Cost	Use for
Small	Haiku, GPT-4o-mini, Gemini Flash	~$0.25/1M	Search, summarize, format, classify
Medium	Sonnet, GPT-4o, Gemini Pro	~$3/1M	Code, analysis, synthesis
Large	Opus, o1, Gemini Ultra	~$15/1M	Architecture, complex reasoning

Rule of thumb: Start with smallest tier. Escalate only if output quality insufficient.

Spawn Checklist

Every spawn must include:

1. TASK: Single clear deliverable (not "help with X")
2. MODEL: Explicit tier choice
3. CONTEXT: Only files/info needed (never full history)
4. OUTPUT: Expected format ("return JSON with...", "write to file X")
5. DONE: How to signal completion

Check templates.md for copy-paste spawn templates.

Error Recovery

Error Type	Action
Sub-agent timeout (>5 min no response)	Kill and retry once
Wrong output format	Retry with stricter instructions
Task too complex for tier	Escalate: Small→Medium→Large
Repeated failures (3x)	Abort, report to user

Check errors.md for recovery patterns and escalation logic.

Verification

Never trust "done" without checking:

• Code: Run tests, check syntax
• Files: Verify they exist and have content
• Data: Spot-check 2-3 items
• Research: Confirm sources exist

Don't Delegate

• Quick tasks (<30 seconds to do yourself)
• Tasks needing conversation context
• Anything requiring user clarification mid-task