Why You Only Need the Frontier Model for One Single Edit

You only need the frontier model for one single edit

I discovered that splitting tasks between expensive and cheap models often increases costs because reading code is the real expense. Instead of handing off a plan, I found that swapping to a cheaper model immediately after the first edit saves money while maintaining performance. This approach avoids duplicating the costly context reading phase that traditional planning strategies miss.

"The expensive part of an agent's day is not the fixing, building, or even the thinking. Opus fixing things does not cost money. Opus reading things costs money."