council

LLM Council Skill

Multi-model council: parallel drafts -> adversarial critique -> validated synthesis.

Prerequisite: This skill requires the the-llm-council Python package to be installed. The skill provides IDE integration but the actual council runs via the installed CLI. If you see command not found: council, run pip install the-llm-council first.

Setup

1. Install

pip install the-llm-council>=0.6.0

# With specific provider SDKs
pip install the-llm-council[anthropic,openai,google]

# With Vertex AI (Enterprise GCP)
pip install the-llm-council[vertex]

2. Configure API Keys

Provider	Environment Variable	Notes
OpenRouter	OPENROUTER_API_KEY	Recommended - single key for all models
OpenAI	OPENAI_API_KEY	Direct GPT access
Anthropic	ANTHROPIC_API_KEY	Direct Claude access
Google	GOOGLE_API_KEY or GEMINI_API_KEY	Direct Gemini access
Vertex AI	GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT or ANTHROPIC_VERTEX_PROJECT_ID + ADC	Enterprise GCP

# Minimum setup (OpenRouter)
export OPENROUTER_API_KEY="your-key"

3. Verify

council doctor

Usage

council run <subagent> "<task>" [options]

CLI Options (v0.6.0)

Option	Description
--mode	Agent mode (e.g., impl/arch/test for drafter)
--json	Output structured JSON
--verbose, -v	Verbose output with metrics
--models, -m	Comma-separated OpenRouter model IDs
--providers, -p	Comma-separated provider list
--timeout, -t	Request timeout in seconds
--temperature	Model temperature (0.0-2.0)
--max-tokens	Max output tokens
--input, -i	Read task from file (use - for stdin)
--output, -o	Write output to file
--context, --system	Additional system context/instructions
--schema	Custom output schema JSON file
--no-artifacts	Disable artifact storage (faster)
--dry-run	Show what would run without executing

Other Commands

council doctor                     # Check provider health
council doctor --provider openai   # Check specific provider
council config --show              # Show current configuration
council config --init              # Create default config
council config --validate          # Validate config file
council --version                  # Show version

Subagents (v0.5.0+)

Core Agents

Subagent	Modes	Use For	Details
drafter	impl, arch, test	Code, architecture, tests	See below
critic	review, security	Code review, security audit	See below
synthesizer	-	Merge and finalize outputs	See subagents/synthesizer.md
researcher	-	Technical research	See subagents/researcher.md
planner	plan, assess	Roadmaps, decisions	See subagents/planner.md
router	-	Task classification	See subagents/router.md

Agent Modes

drafter modes:

• --mode impl - Feature implementation, bug fixes (default)
• --mode arch - System design, API schemas
• --mode test - Test suite design

critic modes:

• --mode review - Code review with CWE IDs (default)
• --mode security - Security threat analysis

planner modes:

• --mode plan - Execution roadmaps (default)
• --mode assess - Build vs buy decisions

Deprecated Aliases (Backwards Compatible)

The following legacy agent names still work but will be removed in v1.0:

Old Name	Use Instead	Removed In
implementer	drafter --mode impl	v1.0
architect	drafter --mode arch	v1.0
test-designer	drafter --mode test	v1.0
reviewer	critic --mode review	v1.0
red-team	critic --mode security	v1.0
assessor	planner --mode assess	v1.0
shipper	synthesizer	v1.0

Multi-Model Configuration

Run multiple models in parallel for adversarial debate:

# Via CLI flag
council run drafter --mode arch "Design caching layer" \
  --models "anthropic/claude-opus-4-6,openai/gpt-5.4,google/gemini-3.1-pro-preview"

# Via environment variable
export COUNCIL_MODELS="anthropic/claude-opus-4-6,openai/gpt-5.4,google/gemini-3.1-pro-preview"

Model Pack Overrides

Fine-tune which models handle specific task types:

export COUNCIL_MODEL_FAST="anthropic/claude-haiku-4-5"        # Quick tasks (router, synthesizer)
export COUNCIL_MODEL_REASONING="anthropic/claude-opus-4-6"    # Deep analysis (planner, critic)
export COUNCIL_MODEL_CODE="openai/gpt-5.4"                   # Code generation (drafter)
export COUNCIL_MODEL_CRITIC="anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6"     # Adversarial critique
export COUNCIL_MODEL_GROUNDED="google/gemini-3.1-pro-preview" # Research tasks
export COUNCIL_MODEL_CODE_COMPLEX="anthropic/claude-opus-4-6" # Complex refactoring

Per-Provider Model Override

export OPENAI_MODEL="gpt-5.4"                # Override OpenAI default
export ANTHROPIC_MODEL="claude-opus-4-6"      # Override Anthropic default
export GOOGLE_MODEL="gemini-3.1-pro-preview"  # Override Google default
export OPENROUTER_MODEL="anthropic/claude-opus-4-6"  # Override OpenRouter default

Config File

Optional YAML configuration:

# ~/.config/llm-council/config.yaml
providers:
  - name: openrouter
    default_model: anthropic/claude-opus-4-6
  - name: openai
    default_model: gpt-5.4
  - name: google
    default_model: gemini-3.1-pro-preview

defaults:
  providers:
    - openrouter
  timeout: 120
  max_retries: 3
  summary_tier: actions
  output_format: json  # or "rich" (default)

Python API

from llm_council import Council
from llm_council.protocol.types import CouncilConfig

config = CouncilConfig(
    providers=["openrouter"],
    models=["anthropic/claude-opus-4-6", "openai/gpt-5.4"],
    mode="impl",
    timeout=120,
    temperature=0.7,
    max_tokens=4000,
    system_context="Additional instructions...",
)
council = Council(config=config)
result = await council.run(
    task="Build a login page with OAuth",
    subagent="drafter"
)
print(result.output)
print(result.success)
print(result.duration_ms)
print(result.cost_estimate.estimated_cost_usd)

When to Use

Use council for:

• Feature implementation requiring production quality
• Code review with security analysis (CWE IDs)
• Architecture design decisions
• Technical research informing decisions
• Build vs buy assessments
• Security threat modeling

Skip council for:

• Quick file lookups
• Single-line fixes
• Simple questions

Examples

# Feature implementation
council run drafter --mode impl "Add pagination to users API" --json

# Code review
council run critic --mode review "Review the authentication changes" --json

# Multi-model architecture design
council run drafter --mode arch "Design caching layer" \
  --models "anthropic/claude-opus-4-6,openai/gpt-5.4" --json

# Security threat model
council run critic --mode security "Analyze auth system vulnerabilities" --json

# Build vs buy decision
council run planner --mode assess "Should we build or buy a payment system?" --json

# Read task from file, write output to file
council run drafter --mode impl -i task.md -o result.json --json

# Dry run (see what would execute)
council run drafter --mode impl "Build login page" --dry-run

# With additional context
council run critic --mode review "Review auth changes" \
  --context "Focus on OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities"

# Legacy syntax (still works, shows deprecation warning)
council run implementer "Add pagination" --json
council run reviewer "Review changes" --json

Security Notes

• API Keys: Never embed secrets in task descriptions or skill files. Use environment variables.
• Data Sensitivity: Avoid sending files containing secrets (.env, credentials) to the council. Context is sent to external LLM providers.
• Context Injection: User-provided --context content is wrapped in XML delimiters and framed as reference data to mitigate prompt injection.
• Skill Integrity: Treat SKILL.md and subagents/*.md as configuration code. Keep under version control.

Troubleshooting

# Check all providers
council doctor

# Check specific provider
council doctor --provider openrouter --json

# Verbose output for debugging
council run drafter --mode impl "task" --verbose

# Debug logging
council --debug run drafter "task"

# Faster runs (skip artifact storage)
council run drafter "task" --no-artifacts

# Dry run to see configuration
council run drafter --mode impl "task" --dry-run