model-orchestrator

Intelligent model load balancer for OpenClaw crons — distributes across providers by complexity and cost. Use when optimizing model selection for crons, balancing provider load, or troubleshooting model routing.

Intelligent model load balancer for OpenClaw crons. Distributes crons across providers based on task complexity, provider health, quota status, and cost.

Architecture

Tier System

• Tier 1 (Simple): Runs bash scripts, reports HEARTBEAT_OK → cheapest available
• Tier 2 (Medium): Reads output, screens content, makes simple decisions → mid-tier
• Tier 3 (Complex): Strategy, analysis, creative, long context → smartest available

Provider Priority (per tier)

Tier	Primary	Secondary	Tertiary	Emergency
T1	MiniMax	Flash 3	Kimi	(pause)
T2	Flash 3	Kimi	MiniMax	(pause)
T3	Opus	Sonnet	Kimi	Flash 3

Provider Billing Models

IMPORTANT: Not all providers use credit-based billing. Know the model before diagnosing.

Provider	Billing Model	"Down" Diagnosis
Z.ai (GLM)	Rate-limit / quota system (like Anthropic/OpenAI). $360/yr Coding Max plan. NOT credits. Error 1113 ("余额不足") = quota exhausted for current period, NOT empty balance. Resets periodically. Check dashboard: https://open.bigmodel.cn/
Anthropic	Rate-limit tiers (tokens/min, requests/min). Cooldown = temporary.
OpenAI	Rate-limit tiers. Monthly spend caps optional.
Google	Rate-limit per model per minute. Free tier available.
MiniMax	API credits (actual balance).
Kimi	Rate-limit system.

Rule: When a provider returns quota/limit errors, report it as "quota limit hit — resets on [date]" NOT "balance depleted / needs top-up." Check the dashboard for reset timing before recommending action.

Crisis Mode

When 2+ providers are down:

1. Move ALL T1 crons to surviving cheap provider
2. PAUSE T2 crons that aren't critical
3. Keep only critical T3 crons running
4. Log everything for recovery

Recovery

• Scrape provider dashboards for quota reset times
• Create one-shot at crons to check recovery
• Auto-redistribute when providers come back

Files

• state/cron-tiers.json — cron ID → tier mapping + metadata
• state/provider-status.json — compact current provider health/quota snapshot (backward-compatible)
• state/provider-tracking.json — detailed provider registry: status, source, checks, quota payloads, staleness, temp-model registry
• state/switches.log — audit trail of all model switches
• scripts/orchestrate.sh — main orchestrator (run daily or on-demand)
• scripts/check-provider.sh — test a single provider
• scripts/scrape-quota.sh — scrape dashboards for quota info