> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://clawhqplatform.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Model Router

> Automatically route each task to the right model based on what it is.

The Model Router analyzes each incoming task and selects the most appropriate model — balancing capability, cost, and budget constraints without manual configuration.

## How it works

Every message is classified into one of five task types:

| Task Type    | Examples                                              | Default Model     |
| ------------ | ----------------------------------------------------- | ----------------- |
| **Code**     | Debugging, PR review, refactoring, scripts            | Claude Sonnet 4.6 |
| **Research** | Web search, competitor analysis, summarizing articles | Claude Sonnet 4.6 |
| **Summary**  | TL;DR, key points, digest                             | Claude Haiku 4.5  |
| **Creative** | Blog posts, emails, newsletters, copy                 | Claude Opus 4.6   |
| **Chat**     | General Q\&A, quick questions                         | Claude Haiku 4.5  |

The router then applies rules in priority order:

1. **Per-task override** — if you've pinned a specific model to a task type, it always wins
2. **Self-learning** — if enough samples have been collected, the router uses the model with the highest success rate
3. **Budget fallback** — if your monthly budget is above the threshold, non-critical tasks switch to the fallback model
4. **Ollama routing** — background tasks can be sent to a local Ollama model at zero API cost
5. **Task-type defaults** — the table above

## Configure the router

Go to **Settings → Model Router**.

### Primary and fallback models

**Primary Model** is used for most tasks. Sonnet 4.6 is a good default — capable enough for most work, cheaper than Opus.

**Budget Fallback Model** kicks in when your monthly budget exceeds the threshold. Haiku is the recommended fallback — fast and very cheap.

### Budget threshold

The slider controls what percentage of your monthly budget triggers the fallback. Default is 80% — meaning the last 20% of your budget is protected for critical tasks.

### Self-learning

When enabled, the router tracks which models succeed or fail on each task type. After collecting enough samples (default: 20), it automatically adjusts routing to prefer higher-performing models.

To prevent self-learning from changing routing for a task type, click the **lock icon** next to that task in the per-task overrides table.

### Ollama (local models)

If you run [Ollama](https://ollama.ai) locally, the router can send background tasks (summaries, chat) to a local model instead of the API — reducing cost to zero for those task types.

Enable it in **Settings → Model Router → Local Ollama Routing** and set your Ollama base URL (default: `http://localhost:11434`).

Recommended local model: `llama3.2` for general use, `codellama` for code tasks.

## Disable the router

Toggle **Model Router** off in Settings. All agents will use the primary model for every task.

## Per-agent overrides

Agents can also have a model set directly in **Team → \[Agent] → Settings → Model**. An explicit agent-level model always takes priority over the router.

## Environment variables

| Variable                        | Default                       | Description        |
| ------------------------------- | ----------------------------- | ------------------ |
| `MODEL_ROUTER_ENABLED`          | `true`                        | Master switch      |
| `MODEL_ROUTER_PRIMARY`          | `anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6` | Primary model      |
| `MODEL_ROUTER_FALLBACK`         | `anthropic/claude-haiku-4-5`  | Budget fallback    |
| `MODEL_ROUTER_BUDGET_THRESHOLD` | `80`                          | Fallback trigger % |
| `OLLAMA_BASE_URL`               | `http://localhost:11434`      | Ollama endpoint    |