Context
Surfaced 2026-05-14 by the PMF subagent. Belongs in synthpanel repo; tracked here.
The friction
Default model="openrouter/auto" routes to slow reasoning models (~40s per quick_poll, run_panel hung >15min for a 20-persona pack before the subagent killed it). Setting model="anthropic/claude-haiku-4-5" cut quick_poll to ~2s and run_panel+synthesis to ~25-40s.
Most users will give up before figuring this out. The default kills first-impression dead.
What to fix
Two paths:
- Change the default to
anthropic/claude-haiku-4-5 (or similarly fast model) for synthpanel out-of-the-box. Document openrouter/auto as the "use this for highest fidelity, accept latency" option.
- Auto-select: if the call site has ≥10 personas, switch to a fast model unless explicitly overridden. Smaller (<10-persona) runs can keep the high-fidelity default.
I prefer (2) since the high-fidelity default is correct for single-persona deep-research calls.
Where this belongs
DataViking-Tech/SynthPanel. Mirror + close here once synthpanel-side issue exists.
Context
Surfaced 2026-05-14 by the PMF subagent. Belongs in synthpanel repo; tracked here.
The friction
Default
model="openrouter/auto"routes to slow reasoning models (~40s per quick_poll, run_panel hung >15min for a 20-persona pack before the subagent killed it). Settingmodel="anthropic/claude-haiku-4-5"cut quick_poll to ~2s and run_panel+synthesis to ~25-40s.Most users will give up before figuring this out. The default kills first-impression dead.
What to fix
Two paths:
anthropic/claude-haiku-4-5(or similarly fast model) for synthpanel out-of-the-box. Documentopenrouter/autoas the "use this for highest fidelity, accept latency" option.I prefer (2) since the high-fidelity default is correct for single-persona deep-research calls.
Where this belongs
DataViking-Tech/SynthPanel. Mirror + close here once synthpanel-side issue exists.