Show HN: Router picks Cursor/Claude/Codex and effort per task, then launches it

A developer released router, a pre-release command-line tool that selects an AI coding agent, model, and reasoning effort for a task and launches it inside a Herdr pane, supporting Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, and OpenCode. The tool applies deterministic eligibility rules first — enabled models, quota, and a 40% reserve floor on shared accounts — then calls the TypeSafe API to rank remaining options and choose an effort level, with no fallback if TypeSafe is unavailable. Router requires Node.js 20 or newer, a TypeSafe API key, at least one logged-in agent CLI, and Herdr, and keeps configuration, usage snapshots, decisions, and session history local unless an explicitly configured integration needs them.

Local-first, quota-aware routing for AI coding agents in Herdr. router is a command-line tool that picks an AI coding agent, model, and reasoning effort for a task, then starts that agent for you in a Herdr pane. router run "implement the approved plan in docs/plans/billing.md" It filters your subscriptions with fixed rules enabled models, quota, the 40% reserve on shared accounts , asks TypeSafe to rank what is left and choose an effort, starts the chosen agent Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, or OpenCode , and hands it the task. Pre-release: the project is under active development. Review the security and privacy notes below before using real credentials or shared accounts. - Quota-aware: routes around depleted or reserved subscription capacity. - Policy-first: deterministic eligibility rules run before semantic ranking. - Local-first: configuration, usage snapshots, decisions, and session history stay on your machine unless an explicitly configured integration needs them. - Agent-agnostic: supports Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, and OpenCode through one command. - Node.js 20 or newer nvm use reads .nvmrc . - A TypeSafe API key. Routing always calls TypeSafe; there is no fallback. Each run sends the task text to TypeSafe. Recognizable credentials are rejected locally before the call; do not place other sensitive narrative data in routing tasks. - At least one agent CLI you are logged in to: agent Cursor , claude Claude Code , codex , or opencode . The router uses those logins; no provider API keys are needed. - Herdr , to launch agents. router run without --dry-run only launches from inside a Herdr pane HERDR ENV=1 . git clone https://github.com/nidhi-singh02/agent-router.git cd model-router npm install npm run build npm link -w @model-router/router Or add an alias to ~/.zshrc : alias router="node $HOME/Code/model-router/packages/router/dist/cli.js" After git pull , run npm run build again. The config lives in .model-router/ inside the repo gitignored . Point the router at it from ~/.zshrc , then source ~/.zshrc : export MODEL ROUTER HOME="$HOME/Code/model-router/.model-router" mkdir -p .model-router cp config.example.json .model-router/config.json Without MODEL ROUTER HOME , the router uses ~/Library/Application Support/model-router on macOS ~/.config/model-router elsewhere . security add-generic-password -a "$USER" -s model-router-typesafe -w The command prompts for the key, so it never lands in shell history. The config refers to it with "typesafe": { "apiKeyRef": "keychain:model-router-typesafe" } . Every pane and agent then finds the key without exporting anything, and it stays out of agents' environments. To replace the key, add -U . If macOS asks to allow security access the first time, choose "Always Allow". TYPESAFE API KEY in the environment still works as a fallback. There is no router accounts add command. Edit the accounts array in .model-router/config.json hidden folder; for example code .model-router/config.json with one entry per agent login: { "id": "acct personal claude", "label": "personal claude", "provider": "anthropic", "agent": "claude-code", "ownership": "personal", "collectorPreference": "local-session" , "enabledModels": "anthropic:claude-sonnet", "anthropic:claude-opus" , "enabled": true } | Field | Values | |---|---| | agent | cursor , claude-code , codex , opencode | | provider | Matches the models: cursor , anthropic , openai | | ownership | personal , or shared for a subscription other people also use see below | | reserveFloor | Optional, 0 to 1. Shared accounts default to 0.40 and cannot go lower | | collectorPreference | Where usage comes from: local-session , official-cli , official-api , browser-dashboard | | enabledModels | Model IDs from the table below | | enabled | true or false | | credentialRef | Optional env:NAME or keychain:NAME . Never put secret values in the file | Run router accounts to check that the file parses. docs/configuration.md has the full schema. The skill lets an agent route the next phase of your work see Phases phases-planning-then-implementation . Link the repo copy so updates arrive with git pull : ln -s "$PWD/skills/model-router" ~/.claude/skills/model-router ln -s "$PWD/skills/model-router" ~/.codex/skills/model-router ln -s "$PWD/skills/model-router" ~/.cursor/skills/model-router The links follow whatever branch is checked out in this repo. Defined in packages/router/config/models.json . Add an ID to an account's enabledModels to use it. | Model ID | Agent | Starts as | Efforts | Quota pool | |---|---|---|---|---| | cursor:grok-4.6 | Cursor | agent --model cursor-grok-4.6-<effort | low, medium, high | spend | | cursor:grok-4.5 | Cursor | agent --model cursor-grok-4.5-high | high | spend | | cursor:composer-2.5 | Cursor | agent --model composer-2.5 | none | auto | | anthropic:claude-sonnet | Claude Code | claude --model sonnet --effort <effort | low, medium, high | | | anthropic:claude-opus | Claude Code | claude --model opus --effort <effort | low, medium, high | | | openai:gpt-6-astra | Codex | codex --model gpt-6-astra -c model reasoning effort="<effort " | low, medium, high, ultra | | | openai:gpt-5.6-sol | Codex | codex --model gpt-5.6-sol … | low, medium, high, ultra | | | openai:gpt-5.6-terra | Codex | codex --model gpt-5.6-terra … | low, medium, high, ultra | | | openai:gpt-5.6-luna | Codex | codex --model gpt-5.6-luna … | low, medium, high | | | openai:gpt-5.5 | Codex | codex --model gpt-5.5 … | low, medium, high | | | openai:opencode | OpenCode | opencode --model openai | low, medium, high | | TypeSafe picks the effort from the model's list. ultra is only offered when your task text contains the word "ultra". Capability, cost, and latency numbers in models.json are estimates you can adjust. router run "<task " --dry-run see which agent, model, and effort would be used router run "<task " start that agent in a new Herdr pane and send the task router status list accounts; add --usage to show quota router session the latest launch; router session --list for more --dry-run prints the decision card and the command it would start, without opening a pane or sending anything. A real run splits a new pane next to the current one, starts the agent, waits for it to finish starting up, sends the task, and confirms the agent began working. You can run the router any number of times, in the same tab or different ones; each launch gets its own agent name such as router-codex-3c356c . Selected: cursor / composer-2.5 / none Phase: implementation Why: TypeSafe selected acct personal cursor:cursor:composer-2.5 for implementation in phase implementation Reserve policy: personal account Cache decision: no previous session Usage source: estimated local-session Quota: auto 70% left spend 45% left Freshness: refreshed at 2026-09-17T12:00:00.000Z The router routes one phase per task planning, implementation, debugging, review, research, and so on . It does not answer your question itself; the launched agent does. | Code | Meaning | |---|---| | 0 | Route selected and launched, unless --dry-run | | 1 | Launch failed; the reason is printed and recorded in the session | | 2 | No route: no eligible model, TypeSafe unavailable, or session not found | | 3 | Low confidence on a consequential task; choose one of the two routes | Usage checks on router run are local-session by default : the router reads status-line cache files milliseconds and persists non-unknown snapshots to SQLite. Official CLI/API and browser collectors stay behind --usage slower, and some live commands may consume quota . Personal accounts stay eligible when quota is missing, stale, or at 0%. Shared accounts still need known usage above the reserve. router status without --usage still lists accounts only. router status --usage runs the full collector chain. Quota on the card is informational. For a personal account, a model at 0% remaining is still eligible. Shared accounts still exclude quota-exhausted and unknown-usage . The Cursor, Claude Code, and Codex CLIs do not report plan usage on the command line. The router reads quota from cache files that your own status line scripts write; the router does not install those scripts. Enable it with "local-session" in the account's collectorPreference . Cache data older than 15 minutes counts as unknown, and a cache only refreshes while a session of that tool is open and redrawing its status line. Cursor: ~/.cursor/statusline-quota-cache.json { "pct": 45, "auto left": 70, "at": 1700000000 } pct is the percent of included spend left Grok models , auto left the percent of the Auto pool left Composer , and at the Unix time in seconds. Claude Code: ~/.claude/statusline-quota-cache.json , written from the rate limits Claude Code passes to its status line: { "at": 1700000000, "five hour": { "used percentage": 20, "resets at": 1700013600 }, "seven day": { "used percentage": 10, "resets at": 1700604800 } } Either window may be missing, and a window whose reset time has passed counts as fully available. Codex: ~/.codex/statusline-quota-cache.json { "weekly left": 40, "at": 1700000000 } weekly left is the percent of weekly quota remaining 0–100 , and at is Unix time in seconds. The router does not write this file. OpenCode: harness-only; quota belongs to the underlying provider. - Personal: stays eligible even if quota is missing, stale, or at 0%. The card may still show remaining quota when a cache exists. - Shared: needs known usage a fresh local-session cache, or --usage and keeps 40% of its quota in reserve. It is excluded when the coordinator reports someone else using it. Without a coordinator the usual local setup , it routes on its quota alone. Each router run records a session in .model-router/state.sqlite . A launched agent's task ends with Router session: <id and instructions for when its phase is done. With the skill installed, the flow is: The router repairs the state directory to 0700 and SQLite-related files to 0600 whenever it opens the database. Treat the task and handoff history as sensitive local data. 1. router run "plan feature X" starts, for example, Grok for planning. 2. The agent writes the plan to a file and asks you whether to route the next phase. 3. When you agree, it runs router session <id and router run --session <id "implement the plan in docs/plans/x.md" --dry-run , shows you the card, and launches without --dry-run after you confirm. 4. The new session records the previous one. The card shows Previous session: <id planning - implementation , and the new agent gets the previous phase and task. The next agent starts in a new pane without the earlier conversation, so the task must point to the file. You can run the same commands yourself: router session <id router run --session <id "implement the plan in docs/plans/x.md" router run "<task " --dry-run --usage --session <id --json router status --usage router session id --list --limit <n --json router accounts router usage refresh --source local-session|official-cli|browser --dry-run --json prints machine-readable output for plugins, including sessionId , agentName , and paneId . router usage refresh defaults to local-session file reads; --dry-run prints facts and does not persist. Without --dry-run it writes snapshots to SQLite. Agent Router also ships as a Herdr plugin, so routing, status, sessions, and usage refresh are reachable from Herdr actions and keybindings instead of a shell prompt: herdr plugin install nidhi-singh02/agent-router herdr plugin action list --plugin nidhi-singh02.agent-router The manifest is herdr-plugin.toml at the repository root; the scripts it runs live in herdr-plugin/ . See herdr-plugin/README.md https://github.com/nidhi-singh02/agent-router/blob/main/herdr-plugin/README.md for the action list, keybinding examples, and local development with herdr plugin link . | Message | What to do | |---|---| | TypeSafe could not select a route typesafe-unavailable . No TypeSafe API key found … | Store the key setup step 4 | | No eligible route. Exclusions: ... | Read each reason below | | quota-exhausted | That model's quota pool is at 0%; if unexpected, refresh the status-line cache or pass --usage | | shared-activity-constrained | Shared account without known usage missing/stale cache, or coordinator busy | | below-reserve | Shared account would drop below its 40% reserve | | stale-usage , unknown-usage | Usage data too old or missing; open a session of that tool to refresh its cache | | model-not-enabled , account-disabled | Check enabledModels and enabled in the config | | HERDR ENV=1 is required to launch a pane | Run from a Herdr pane, or add --dry-run | | herdr agent start failed: <code : <message | Herdr's own error; the router closes the pane it created | | handoff not received by agent <name in pane <id … | The agent is open but never started the task; paste the task there or run again | | agent is blocked; not resending the handoff | The agent is waiting on a question or approval in its pane | | Session not found: <id | Check the id with router session --list | | zsh: command not found: router | Setup step 2, then open a new shell | npm run verify typecheck, lint, format check, tests, build npm test tests only Do not deploy the Cloudflare coordinator packages/coordinator or write into an external Hermes checkout packages/hermes-heartbeat without explicit approval. See docs/ for configuration, operations, privacy, and provider support. - Never commit .model-router/ , .env , API keys, bearer tokens, cookies, or provider cache files. The repository ignores the local state directories and environment files by default. - Store the TypeSafe key in the macOS Keychain as shown above. Environment variables are a supported fallback, but are easier to expose accidentally through child processes or logs. - Task text is sent to TypeSafe for classification and ranking. Do not route secrets, credentials, private client data, or other sensitive text. - router run starts local agent processes with the permissions of your current user. Review the selected route and task before launching it. - The optional coordinator and heartbeat packages are not required for ordinary personal accounts. Treat them as pre-release components and review their deployment configuration before exposing them to a network. See Privacy https://github.com/nidhi-singh02/agent-router/blob/main/docs/privacy.md , Operations https://github.com/nidhi-singh02/agent-router/blob/main/docs/operations.md , and Configuration https://github.com/nidhi-singh02/agent-router/blob/main/docs/configuration.md for the detailed data flow and deployment guidance. Issues and focused pull requests are welcome. Before opening a pull request, run: npm run verify Please do not include credentials, private account data, local quota caches, generated state, or provider dashboard exports in issues, tests, or commits. Agent Router is available under the MIT License https://github.com/nidhi-singh02/agent-router/blob/main/LICENSE .