escalation-governance

Guide to deciding whether to escalate from a lower model (haiku/sonnet) toa higher model (sonnet/opus).Triggers: model escalation, haiku to sonnet, sonnet to opus, reasoning depth,task complexity, model selection, capability trade-offUse when: evaluating whether to escalate models, facing genuine complexityrequiring deeper reasoning, novel patterns with no existing solutions,high-stakes decisions requiring capability investmentDO NOT use when: thrashing without investigation - investigate root cause first.DO NOT use when: time pressure alone - urgency doesn't change task complexity.DO NOT use when: "just to be safe" - assess actual complexity instead.NEVER escalate without investigation first. This is the Iron Law.