plan-execute¶
Plan big, execute small
A strong model plans and delegates token-heavy work to cheaper executors. The leverage is rate/quota arbitrage plus parallelism — planning and synthesis stay frontier-quality while the bulk reading and mechanical work runs at a cheaper model's rate.
Install¶
Components¶
| Component | What it is |
|---|---|
plan-execute-strategy skill |
When and how to split work: the CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_MODEL + --append-system-prompt delegation recipe, the /output-style option, and how the /advisor tool differs. |
/plan-big-execute-small command |
Runs the bundled workflow: strong planner → cheap parallel workers → cheap read-only verifier → strong synthesizer. |
plan-big-execute-small workflow |
The script the command runs (workflows/plan-big-execute-small.workflow.js); also runnable directly by path. |
execution-worker subagent |
A cheap-model, tightly-scoped worker for delegating a single sub-task interactively. |
Two ways to use it¶
Interactive — put a strong model in the driver's seat and pin subagents to a cheaper one:
CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_MODEL=sonnet claude \
--append-system-prompt "Delegate execution to subagents with clear, scoped \
instructions; you own planning and oversight."
Scripted — for a deterministic, repeatable split:
Running the workflow directly¶
The command invokes the workflow via ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}. You can also run it
yourself:
Workflow({
scriptPath: "<plugin dir>/workflows/plan-big-execute-small.workflow.js",
args: { task: "…", workerModel: "haiku", maxSubtasks: 12 }
})
args accepts a bare task string or { task, workerModel?, workerEffort?,
maxSubtasks? }. The planner and synthesizer inherit the session model; the
workers and the read-only verifier run at workerModel (default haiku).
Relationship to the advisor tool¶
Delegation (this plugin) and the /advisor tool are inverses of the same "strong
where it counts, cheap where you can" idea: delegation puts the strong model in
front leading and delegating; the advisor puts a cheap model in front and lets it
consult a stronger advisor mid-turn. They're orthogonal and can be combined — the
plan-execute-strategy skill explains when to reach for each.
At a glance¶
| Category | orchestration |
| Provides | skill, /plan-big-execute-small command, workflow, execution-worker subagent |
| Dependencies | none |
| License | MIT |