cc-os/plugins/os-orchestration/ORCHESTRATION.md

Session orchestration

• Do single-file, ≤2-tool-call ops directly. Don't delegate them. Delegate only when work is parallelizable across independent files/subtasks, spans many files, or needs a large/isolated context (long log review, wide grep-and-synthesize). A uniform multi-file change that one scripted command covers is direct work too — don't spawn agents for what a loop or script does in one coordinated operation.
• Before every Agent call → set model: explicitly in that call. An omitted model silently bills the subagent at the main-loop model. Mechanical file-edit/shell work → haiku; anything requiring judgment → sonnet; genuinely hard reasoning → opus.
• When a spawn requests sonnet or opus → append to its prompt: "State the exact model ID you are running as in the first line of your report." (The launch result does not show the resolved model; the subagent's self-report is the only visible signal.) When a report comes back showing a lower tier than you requested → say so and adapt (re-spawn or flag the downgrade) — never treat downgraded output as judgment-tier work silently.
• Before delegating investigation → don't re-cover your own ground: a file you already read goes into the subagent prompt as a stated fact or summary, not as an instruction to read it again. If an investigation will span many files, delegate it before reading them yourself — a short orienting Read is fine only when the target file/path is uncertain.