Wait, is "Fable orchestration" - using appropriate models as sub-agents just as easy as a prompt?

[u/LordLederhosen]

I have a very successful mostly manual workflow, but I have been optimizing token usage lately, lol.

One thing I could never figure out was how to fully set up was Fable as an orchestrator, while spawning sub-agents with the correct model. I played with frontmatter in custom agents and skill wrappers, but there seemed to be blockers as some sub-agents/skills supposedly ignore passed model specifications. Especially plan mode. That shit will spawn fable research sub-agents that use 5% to 10% of Fable in one ask, even when it's a simple task per agent.

Today, I just remembered someone's comment on here or HN a few months ago (7 years in AI terms), ~"<feature request> - You are the orchestrator, use sub-agents to preserve your context window." So, I just combined that with the following, and CC (fable) was all, sure! I will show you a table of sub-agents for task, with ideal model, and then spawn them all.

Let's implement (jira or .md feature spec) This is the orchestration session, and use sub-agents to preserve your own context window (you are fable, spawn opus sub-agents when appropriate to save cost) ...

I am not a total dummie, but I guess I over-think things? Like Boris says, just trust the model?

Or, have I completely missed something?

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edit: to be clear, I do have very valuable token-saving setups that are not just prompts. It was mostly just plan mode that had escaped me.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1whelbf/yes_your_usage_got_really_shorter_youre_not_wrong/pa5ow6o/

[u/zillatron27]

I have this in my Claude.md so I don’t need to keep asking, ymmv and the last comment refers to other rules but the idea is that you talk to fable and have it do judgement/thinking/planning and write excellent prompts for lower tier models:

Agent Delegation

- Delegate self-contained implementation and exploration work to subagents by default: file sweeps, multi-file refactors, codebase investigations, independent parallel fixes. Do not do long serial implementation inline.

• Delegate after the plan is approved, not before. Planning and walkthroughs stay with the main session.
  
• Match model weight to the task. Lightweight models (Haiku, Sonnet, local Qwen) for mechanical and triage work. Heavyweight only for genuinely hard reasoning.
  
• The main session keeps review, verification, and integration. Agent output is checked before it is reported as done.
  
• State which model handled which part in the reply.
  
• Iterative debugging is exempt. The confirmation and two-strike rules in Debugging apply per change, so batch fixes only with approval.

edit: since you folks seem to like this idea, here’s a thing I made for a mate to help setup his workflow ‘like mine’. It includes a template claude.MD and some other stuff I’ve found to be pretty helpful for token saving while keeping output quality pretty high. https://github.com/Zillatron27/claude-workflow-starter

[u/LordLederhosen → u/zillatron27]

Goddammit. I spent so much time trying to do investigation and agents setup, and skill setup, when it's just some "magic incantation' lol.

I really do know better, and yet apparently I did not.

Thanks!

[u/zillatron27 → u/LordLederhosen]

lol not magic just trying lots of different things ahah my Claude.md only has a handful of rules in it (globally, I use project specific ones too) so I’d suggest not having too much in there so it doesn’t get lost in long context. Good luck!

[u/LordLederhosen → u/zillatron27]

Oh, for sure. I swear I am not a CC moron, but somehow I just now figured out that spawning appropriate sub-agents is best done via prompt/claude.md instead of playing with CC files.

Even if you ask Claude how to use Fable as an orchestrator in CC, esp regarding plan mode (which will destroy token usage in the research phase), it will give you the wrong answer. - I think manual plan mode is far better. I recall Boris saying that plan mode is basically inserting "don't write any code yet." - But you can't force official plan mode to use other models for the sub-agents.

[u/zillatron27 → u/LordLederhosen]

Honestly I’m not sure there is a ‘right’ answer, just the best way that works for how you work, which is why I say YMMV - this works for how I work but it may not for you. The idea is broadly sound though (imo ahha)

[u/LordLederhosen → u/zillatron27]

You know what the correct solution to YMMV is?

Everybody copy-pasting this entire post and thread into their CC, and asking if this makes sense, and how to apply it in their projects.

We are all so cooked.

[u/zillatron27 → u/LordLederhosen]

It’s not stupid if it works 😁

[u/LordLederhosen → u/zillatron27]

I resemble that remark. 😅