raymondware · Oct 23, 2026 · Oct 23, 2026 · Oct 23, 2026
diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -24,12 +24,12 @@ scribe/
 - Anti-patterns at repo root (not nested in skills/) because many agents read them
 - Specialists use Haiku (fast, cheap, constrained output)
 - Implementation agents use Sonnet (code generation)
-- Conductor, voice-critic, and critique-synthesizer use Opus 4.8 (complex judgment, synthesis)
+- Conductor, voice-critic, and critique-synthesizer use Opus (complex judgment, synthesis)
 - Conductor never writes or critiques - only coordinates
 
 ## Adding a New Agent
 
-1. Create `agents/your-agent.md` with YAML frontmatter (name, model, description)
+1. Create `agents/your-agent.md` with YAML frontmatter (name, model, description). Set `model` to a tier alias (`haiku`, `sonnet`, `opus`), never a pinned model ID
 2. Reference files using `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/path/to/file`
 3. Define clear inputs, outputs, and constraints
 4. If the agent participates in the pipeline, update `skills/scribe/references/orchestration/pipeline.md`

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
@@ -110,8 +110,8 @@ Scribe ships with anti-patterns across three files:
 ### Critics (parallel ensemble)
 `rhythm-critic` `voice-critic` `cliche-detector` `ai-ism-critic` `pacing-critic`
 
-### Orchestration (Opus 4.8)
-`conductor` `anti-pattern-selector` `critique-synthesizer`
+### Orchestration
+`conductor` `critique-synthesizer` (Opus), `anti-pattern-selector` (Sonnet)
 
 ## Contributing
 

diff --git a/agents/ai-ism-critic.md b/agents/ai-ism-critic.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 name: ai-ism-critic
-model: claude-haiku-4-5
+model: haiku
 description: Detects the specific lexical and structural fingerprints of AI-generated prose. The most direct AI-default detection critic. Reads only assigned subset slice tagged ai-isms/ai-tell/ai-canary. Produces a 0-25 score and an itemized list of fingerprint hits.
 ---
 

diff --git a/agents/anti-pattern-selector.md b/agents/anti-pattern-selector.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 name: anti-pattern-selector
-model: claude-sonnet-4-6
+model: sonnet
 description: Selects a varied subset of anti-patterns for the current scribe run. Reads the manifest plus brief-specific signals (persona, surface, audience, voice signature), excludes the previous run's subset to enforce rotation, weights ai-ism patterns higher, and appends an audit record to state/draws.jsonl. Spawned first in every pipeline. Never writes or critiques. Output is the subset that downstream agents must use.
 ---
 

diff --git a/agents/cliche-detector.md b/agents/cliche-detector.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 name: cliche-detector
-model: claude-haiku-4-5
+model: haiku
 description: Detects cliches, manufactured aphorisms, dead metaphors, and content-marketing-blog phrasings. Reads only assigned subset slice tagged aphorism/rhetoric/opener/closer. Produces a 0-25 score and findings with replacement suggestions.
 ---
 

diff --git a/agents/conductor.md b/agents/conductor.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 name: conductor
-model: claude-opus-4-8
+model: opus
 description: Pipeline orchestrator for scribe writing workflows. Manages the 6-phase pipeline (draw, plan, interview, draft, review, present), spawns the anti-pattern-selector first to pick a varied subset, threads that subset through all specialists and critics, runs a parallel critic ensemble plus synthesizer in REVIEW, and enforces quality gates with targeted rework. Does NOT write, edit, or critique. Coordinates only.
 ---
 

diff --git a/agents/critique-synthesizer.md b/agents/critique-synthesizer.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 name: critique-synthesizer
-model: claude-opus-4-8
+model: opus
 description: Merges parallel critic outputs (rhythm, voice, cliche, ai-ism, pacing) into a single consensus report with a 0-100 Sameness Score. Deduplicates findings across critics. Routes targeted rework to the right specialist. Does NOT critique on its own — synthesizes only.
 ---
 

diff --git a/agents/cross-persona-audit.md b/agents/cross-persona-audit.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 name: cross-persona-audit
-model: claude-sonnet-4-6
+model: sonnet
 description: Audits the 5 scribe persona definitions for structural divergence. Detects dimensions where two or more personas would produce indistinguishable prose. Flags overlap, produces a pairwise divergence matrix. Run when persona files are modified or when a new persona is added.
 ---
 

diff --git a/agents/dialogue-specialist.md b/agents/dialogue-specialist.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 name: dialogue-specialist
-model: claude-haiku-4-5
+model: haiku
 description: Plans dialogue beats — speech rhythm, dialogue tag discipline, register per character. Only spawned when the surface is `dialogue` or when the structure-specialist's skeleton includes dialogue beats. Outputs a dialogue spec the draft-implementer follows.
 ---
 

diff --git a/agents/draft-implementer.md b/agents/draft-implementer.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 name: draft-implementer
-model: claude-sonnet-4-6
+model: sonnet
 description: The first writer in the pipeline. Takes specialist specs (rhythm, voice, vocabulary, structure, optionally dialogue) and the persona file, and produces a first draft. Reads only the assigned subset of anti-patterns. Does NOT critique. Does NOT revise its own output.
 ---
 

diff --git a/agents/external-judge.md b/agents/external-judge.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 name: external-judge
-model: claude-sonnet-4-6
+model: sonnet
 description: Independent Sameness scorer for prose. Reads prose only — no access to specialists' outputs, the synthesizer's findings, or the critic ensemble's reasoning. Used when an external validation harness needs an unbiased second opinion. Outputs JSON with score and indicators_hit.
 ---
 

diff --git a/agents/pacing-critic.md b/agents/pacing-critic.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 name: pacing-critic
-model: claude-haiku-4-5
+model: haiku
 description: Audits chapter and essay pacing — how the passage opens, how it transitions between scenes, where the thesis lands, how it closes. Detects predictable section sequences, three-anecdote montages, recap discipline failures. Only spawned for chapter/essay surfaces (not blurbs or single paragraphs). 0-25 score.
 ---
 

diff --git a/agents/research-scout.md b/agents/research-scout.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 name: research-scout
-model: claude-sonnet-4-6
+model: sonnet
 description: Mines Reddit, Hacker News, X/Twitter, Substack, writing communities, and editor blogs for emerging AI-default writing patterns. Requires 2+ independent complaints per pattern. Files dated, kebab-case patterns to anti-patterns/sourced-from-research/. Opens PRs only — never pushes to main.
 ---
 

diff --git a/agents/rhythm-critic.md b/agents/rhythm-critic.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 name: rhythm-critic
-model: claude-haiku-4-5
+model: haiku
 description: Audits prose rhythm — sentence-length variance, paragraph-length variance, em-dash density, tricolon usage, single-sentence-paragraph presence. Reads only the assigned subset slice tagged rhythm/paragraph/pacing. Produces a per-dimension score (0-25) and specific findings.
 ---
 

diff --git a/agents/rhythm-specialist.md b/agents/rhythm-specialist.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 name: rhythm-specialist
-model: claude-haiku-4-5
+model: haiku
 description: Defines the sentence-length distribution, paragraph rhythm, and pacing targets for a scribe writing run. Reads the persona file and the user's brief; outputs a rhythm spec the draft-implementer must hit. Does NOT write prose. Does NOT read outside the assigned subset.
 ---
 

diff --git a/agents/structure-specialist.md b/agents/structure-specialist.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 name: structure-specialist
-model: claude-haiku-4-5
+model: haiku
 description: Plans the macro-structure of the passage — paragraph order, section breaks, how the surface opens and closes. Reads the rhythm/voice/vocabulary specialists' outputs and the persona file. Outputs a paragraph-by-paragraph skeleton the draft-implementer fills in.
 ---
 

diff --git a/agents/vocabulary-specialist.md b/agents/vocabulary-specialist.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 name: vocabulary-specialist
-model: claude-haiku-4-5
+model: haiku
 description: Builds the vocabulary register list for a scribe writing run — required vocabulary categories, banned words, target specificity. Reads persona file and brief; outputs a vocabulary spec the draft-implementer must hit.
 ---
 

diff --git a/agents/voice-critic.md b/agents/voice-critic.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 name: voice-critic
-model: claude-opus-4-8
+model: opus
 description: Audits voice consistency, register, point-of-view discipline, and authorial stance. Detects when the voice drifts toward a different persona's register mid-passage. Reads only the assigned subset slice tagged voice/register/vocabulary. Produces a 0-25 score and findings.
 ---
 

diff --git a/agents/voice-implementer.md b/agents/voice-implementer.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 name: voice-implementer
-model: claude-sonnet-4-6
+model: sonnet
 description: Second-pass writer. Takes the draft-implementer's output and revises for voice consistency, rhythm precision, and removal of any AI-default phrases that slipped through. Does NOT critique scores. Outputs revised prose only.
 ---
 

diff --git a/agents/voice-specialist.md b/agents/voice-specialist.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 name: voice-specialist
-model: claude-haiku-4-5
+model: haiku
 description: Defines the voice register, tense, point-of-view, and authorial stance for a scribe writing run. Reads the persona file and any voice signature in the user's brief; outputs a voice spec the draft-implementer must follow. Does NOT write prose.
 ---
 

diff --git a/skills/scribe/SKILL.md b/skills/scribe/SKILL.md
@@ -75,9 +75,9 @@ The `anti-pattern-selector` agent enforces all four. Runs first in every command
 
 | Agent | Model | Role |
 |---|---|---|
-| `conductor` | Opus 4.8 | Pipeline orchestrator. Manages state, spawns specialists, enforces quality gates. |
+| `conductor` | Opus | Pipeline orchestrator. Manages state, spawns specialists, enforces quality gates. |
 | `anti-pattern-selector` | Sonnet | Picks the varied subset for this run, writes the audit log. Runs first in every pipeline. |
-| `critique-synthesizer` | Opus 4.8 | Merges parallel critic outputs, deduplicates, computes consensus 0-100 Sameness Score. |
+| `critique-synthesizer` | Opus | Merges parallel critic outputs, deduplicates, computes consensus 0-100 Sameness Score. |
 
 ### Planning Specialists (read-only, produce specs)
 
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ The `anti-pattern-selector` agent enforces all four. Runs first in every command
 | Agent | Model | Role |
 |---|---|---|
 | `rhythm-critic` | Haiku | Sentence/paragraph variance, em-dash density, tricolons. 0-25 |
-| `voice-critic` | Opus 4.8 | Voice consistency, vocabulary register, marketing-verb detection. 0-25 |
+| `voice-critic` | Opus | Voice consistency, vocabulary register, marketing-verb detection. 0-25 |
 | `cliche-detector` | Haiku | Universal aphorisms, dead metaphors, content-marketing openers. 0-25 |
 | `ai-ism-critic` | Haiku | Direct lexical and structural AI-fingerprint detection. 0-25 |
 | `pacing-critic` | Haiku | Chapter/essay-level pacing — only for those surfaces. 0-25 |

diff --git a/tools/validate_plugin.py b/tools/validate_plugin.py
@@ -98,6 +98,10 @@ def validate_agents_and_commands() -> None:
         for key in ["name", "model", "description"]:
             if not fm.get(key):
                 fail(f"{path.relative_to(ROOT)} missing frontmatter field {key}")
+        # Tier aliases resolve to the newest model in that tier, so agents never pin a
+        # model ID that a later release makes obsolete.
+        if fm["model"] not in {"haiku", "sonnet", "opus", "inherit"}:
+            fail(f"{path.relative_to(ROOT)} model must be a tier alias (haiku, sonnet, opus, inherit), not {fm['model']}")
         if fm["name"] in names:
             fail(f"duplicate agent name {fm['name']}")
         names.add(fm["name"])