ResearchAudio field guide / July 2026
Keep the frontier for decisions. Stop paying it to type.
Ten practical moves for routing expensive reasoning toward the work that needs it—and cheaper execution toward everything else.
Archive note: this guide preserves the pricing and product state documented on July 15, 2026. Confirm current model availability and rates before making a purchasing decision.
The one rule
Use the best model for the smallest expensive decision.
Architecture, difficult debugging, and high-stakes review can justify frontier rates. File exploration, routine edits, test execution, and log reading usually do not. The playbook turns that distinction into a repeatable workflow.
Inside the PDF
Ten moves, ranked by what changes the bill.
The first four control how much frontier reasoning you buy. The remaining six control repeated context, latency tolerance, and failure exposure.
- 01Drop the effortMatch reasoning depth to the task.
- 02Architect, not executorPlan high; execute lower.
- 03Make it write lessUse honest session-level math.
- 04Cheap models do the readingPin exploration subagents.
- 05Fable on advisor dutyCap expensive consultations.
- 06The 90% discount you ownProtect stable cache prefixes.
- 07Kill the context taxPrune unused tool overhead.
- 08Stop re-sending the transcriptExternalize durable state.
- 09Batch what can waitDo not pay for needless immediacy.
- 10Cap the meter firstBound failure before it runs.
The complete field guide
Keep all ten moves beside your next agent run.
The PDF includes the rate-card snapshot, concrete commands and configuration examples, common traps, a ranked savings table, and a one-page action checklist.
Keep the sourced version
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