openrouter-routing-rules

Openrouter Routing Rules

Overview

This skill shows how to implement rule-based routing that dynamically selects models based on prompt content, user tier, cost constraints, or time-of-day patterns.

Prerequisites

• OpenRouter integration with multiple models configured
• Routing requirements defined (by user tier, task type, cost, etc.)

Instructions

1. Define routing dimensions: Identify the factors that should influence model selection — user tier (free/paid), task type (chat/code/analysis), cost budget, latency requirement
2. Build a rules engine: Create a configuration-driven rules engine where each rule has conditions (e.g., user.tier == "free") and actions (e.g., model = "google/gemma-2-9b-it:free")
3. Implement rule evaluation: Process rules in priority order; the first matching rule determines the model; always include a default/catch-all rule
4. Add dynamic rules: Support rules that query real-time data (current cost, model availability, error rates) to make routing decisions
5. Test with rule scenarios: Write test cases for each rule to verify correct model selection under different conditions

Output

• A configurable rules engine that selects models based on multiple dimensions
• Rule configuration file (JSON/YAML) that can be updated without code changes
• Test suite validating each routing rule produces the correct model selection

Error Handling

Error	Cause	Fix
No rule matched	Conditions don't cover all cases	Always include a default catch-all rule at the end
Rule evaluation error	Dynamic rule query failed (e.g., cost API timeout)	Add fallback values for dynamic data; never block on rule evaluation
Wrong model selected	Rule priority order incorrect	Add logging to show which rule matched and why; review priority ordering

See ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/errors.md for full error reference.

Examples

See ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/examples.md for runnable code samples.

Resources

• OpenRouter Documentation
• OpenRouter Models
• OpenRouter API Reference
• OpenRouter Status