I’ve been looking at how different models handle deep reasoning during extensive codebase refactors. Opus obviously provides comprehensive context retention for massive structural changes, but I’m finding that for modular component rewrites or isolated features, Sonnet’s speed often makes the iteration loop much tighter. From a technical perspective, if you are using an AI-assisted IDE workflow, Sonnet’s quick feedback often outweighs the deeper multi-step planning that Opus excels at, provided the changes are scoped to just a few files. In practice, this works well when you establish clear interfaces first, then let the faster model handle the implementation details. Has anyone found specific codebase sizes or refactoring patterns where jumping straight to Opus is definitively required rather than trying to optimize the loop with Sonnet? submitted by /u/HarrisonAIx
Originally posted by u/HarrisonAIx on r/ClaudeCode