Claude Router
Intelligent model routing for Claude Code - Automatically routes queries to the optimal Claude model (Haiku/Sonnet/Opus) based on complexity, reducing costs by up to 80% without sacrificing quality.
What Makes This Novel
| What Exists | What Claude Router Does |
|---|
| Multi-provider routers (OpenRouter, etc.) | Intra-Claude optimization (Haiku/Sonnet/Opus) |
Manual /model switching | Automatic routing via UserPromptSubmit hook |
| Generic LLM complexity scoring | Coding-task specific pattern recognition |
| External API wrapper approach | Native Claude Code integration using subagents |
Technical Achievements:
- Zero-latency rule-based classification with LLM fallback
- Token-optimized agent definitions (3.4k vs 11.9k tokens)
- Multi-turn context awareness and follow-up detection
- Persistent knowledge system across sessions
Key Metrics
| Metric | Value |
|---|
| Classification latency | ~0ms (rules) or ~100ms (LLM fallback) |
| Classification cost | $0 (rules) or ~$0.001 (Haiku fallback) |
| Cost savings (simple queries) | ~80% (Haiku vs Opus) |
| Cost savings (mixed workload) | Est. 50-70% |
| Additional savings (orchestration) | ~40% on complex tasks |
Installation
# Step 1: Add the marketplace (one-time, per project)
/plugin marketplace add 0xrdan/claude-plugins
# Step 2: Install the plugin
/plugin install claude-router
# Step 3: Restart Claude Code session to activate
That's it! The plugin automatically routes queries - no configuration needed.
# Update
/plugin marketplace update 0xrdan-plugins
# Uninstall
/plugin uninstall claude-router
Migrating from old marketplace? If you previously installed via claude-router-marketplace, run:
/plugin uninstall claude-router@claude-router-marketplace
/plugin marketplace remove claude-router-marketplace
Then follow the installation steps above.
Quick Start
Automatic routing works out of the box:
- Simple queries → Haiku (fast, cheap)
- Coding tasks → Sonnet (balanced)
- Complex analysis → Opus (powerful)
Manual override when needed:
/route opus "Design a microservice architecture"
/route haiku "What is JSON?"
View statistics:
/router-stats
Commands
| Command | Description |
|---|
/route <model> | Override routing for a query |
/router-stats | View usage statistics |
/learn | Extract insights from conversation |
/knowledge | View knowledge base status |
/orchestrate | Execute complex tasks with forking |
/router-analytics | Generate HTML dashboard |
/retry | Retry with escalated model |
/router-plugins | Manage plugin integrations |
See Configuration & Commands for full documentation.
Documentation
How It Works
Claude Router intercepts queries and routes them to the optimal model:
"What is JSON?" → Haiku (~$0.01) ✓ Fast, cheap
"Fix this typo" → Haiku (~$0.01) ✓ Fast, cheap
"Run all tests" → Sonnet (~$0.03) ✓ Balanced
"Design architecture" → Opus (~$0.06) ✓ Powerful
For complex tasks, the Opus Orchestrator delegates subtasks to cheaper models:
- Opus handles strategy → expensive reasoning
- Haiku handles file reads → cheap I/O
- Sonnet handles edits → balanced implementation
Result: Same quality, ~40% less cost on complex workflows.
See How It Works for detailed comparison.
Contributing
Contributions are welcome! See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.
License
MIT License - see LICENSE for details.
Built for the Claude Code community | Report Issues | Follow @dannymonteiro on LinkedIn
0xrdan