What Is Model Routing and Cascading? (ANSWERED)
Project question on LLM routers — intent classification, cascades, early exit, and quality monitoring.
TL;DR — Quick Answer
Model routing sends queries to the appropriate model tier (small/medium/large) based on signals — intent, complexity, confidence, SLA tier. Cascading tries cheap model first; escalates to larger model if confidence low or validator fails — "early exit" saves cost when small model succeeds. Implement with classifier + quality checker + cache; tune escalation rate vs error rate on golden set; avoid infinite agent loops burning tiers.
The Interview Question
Explain model routing and cascading in LLM applications. How do you implement a router that balances cost and quality?
Deep Explanation
Routing
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