Why architecture matters here

Router fails on miscalibration + no fallback. Architecture matters because classifier + registry + fallback all combine.

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The architecture: every piece explained

The top strip is decision. Query. Intent classifier. Model registry. Route decision.

The middle row is control. Policy. Cost / latency budget. Fallback ladder. Quality gate.

The lower rows are ops. Streaming adapter. Metrics. Ops — A/B + rollback + governance.

SLM router — intent + policy + smallest-capable model + fallback + costroute to the cheapest model that can succeedQueryuser promptIntent classifiersmall modelModel registrycapabilities + costRoute decisionsmallest capablePolicytier / consentCost / latency budgetper requestFallback ladderescalate on low confidenceQuality gateverify outputStreaming adapterunifiedMetricsroute accuracy + cost savedOps — A/B + rollback + governanceconstrainbudgetescalategateunifymeasuremeasureoperateoperate
SLM router with intent + fallback + cost tracking.
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End-to-end flow

End-to-end: query classified as simple lookup. Router picks 1B SLM. Response verified. If low confidence, escalates to 7B, then 70B. Cost tracked per request.