I run two Claude Max accounts and one Codex Pro 20x. Until recently I had a working multi-model loop, orchestrator plus implementer plus reviewer, split across Fable, Codex, Sonnet and Opus 4.8 depending on task. That setup is dead now and every replacement I try breaks on a different constraint. Fable eats usage way faster than it used to, at least thats my impression, I dont have per-request accounting so cant really prove it, but its not viable as a permanent orchestrator for me anymore on my quota. Opus 5 is the one I genuinely cant work around though. Three separate attempts, same outcome every time. Worst one cost me a full day on my homeserver, ended up reverting all of it because fixing what it broke would’ve taken longer than just redoing the day from scratch. Codex is the one everybody seems happy with and once you actually figure out how to drive it I get why, when the goal is fully determined its the best implementer I’ve used by a pretty wide margin. Took a fairly heavy harness before I trusted its output without checking it line by line though. Left alone it over-engineers everything. So basically no orchestrator I can afford, none I actually trust, no implementer that works without someone watching it. Stalemate. Anyway thats the complaint part. The part that might actually be useful is what I learned about driving Codex day to day. Codex closes every gap you give it including the ones it genuinely cant close, it just invents the missing piece in the exact same tone as everything real around it. Had a case where it invented a field that looked exactly like it belonged in my spec, the check passed because it was checking against that fake field instead of the actual requirement, so you end up with something that looks like it fixed the problem when it just papered over it. Where it invents seems pretty specific once you notice the pattern. Goal fully determined, it just does the work. Underdetermined but with a named way out, something like “say not derivable here”, it takes the exit basically every time. Underdetermined with no way out anywhere, it invents right there, confidently. The tricky bit is the exit has to sit at the exact level where the gap actually is, a general “say if you’re unsure” does nothing if the real invention happens one layer down from where you gave the exit. Caveat, this is all from one setup, Codex 5.6 inside a pretty heavily verified harness. Take it as experience not some general rule. Wanted to deliver at least some value or learnings before asking for learnings from others. Here my question, why I created this post: What orchestrator plus implementer plus reviewer setup is actually working cleanly for people right now? Not looking for a specific product pitch, just curious what’s held up for other people, because right now every combination I try breaks on cost, reliability, or how much babysitting the implementer needs, and I’d rather learn from what already works than keep burning days finding out the hard way. submitted by /u/cvnlvc
Originally posted by u/cvnlvc on r/ClaudeCode