kixelated · Nov 9, 2026 · Nov 9, 2026 · Nov 9, 2026 · Nov 9, 2026 · Nov 10, 2026
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
@@ -1225,7 +1225,7 @@ the same for every repository unless its `AGENTS.md` names others:
 
 | Size | Writer | Fallback |
 |---|---|---|
-| XS | Claude Code `claude-haiku-5-5` high | Codex `gpt-6.1-sol` low |
+| XS | Claude Code `claude-haiku-5-5` xhigh | Codex `gpt-6.1-sol` low |
 | S | Claude Code `claude-opus-5-5` low | Codex `gpt-6.1-sol` medium |
 | M | Claude Code `claude-opus-5-5` medium | Codex `gpt-6.1-sol` high |
 | L | Claude Code `claude-opus-5-5` high | Codex `gpt-6.1-sol` xhigh |
@@ -1247,7 +1247,7 @@ XS, and `quest models` prints the entry to run:
 
 ```console
 $ quest models XS
-claude	claude-haiku-5-5	high
+claude	claude-haiku-5-5	xhigh
 codex	gpt-6.1-sol	low
 
 $ quest models XS --writer claude-opus-5-5

diff --git a/assets/AGENTS.md b/assets/AGENTS.md
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ A long-running coordinator lets compaction bound its context: it keeps what must
 
 Run each agent at an entry of `quest`'s ranked lists unless the repository's `AGENTS.md` names other models: as a native sub-agent on this session's harness, else through `quest agent`.
 Size each `/quest-iterate` you dispatch as a quest, by the work left on its PR, and name that size in its brief.
-Start it on the PR's writer, the model of its first `Implementer:` line, at the entry `quest models <size> --writer <model>` prints, waiting out its usage limit so the other model can review; a PR with no known writer takes its size's first entry that can run.
+Start it on the PR's writer, the model of its first `Implementer:` line, at the entry `quest models <size> --writer <model>` prints, waiting out its usage limit so the other model can review; a PR whose writer no list names, such as `unknown` or a retired model, takes its size's first entry that can run.
 
 `quest agent start --harness <claude|codex> --model <model> --effort <level> --permission-mode <mode> <worktree> <prompt>` runs a headless agent on that CLI's own login; start it as a background command in its own isolated worktree, so the harness reports its exit as it would a sub-agent's.
 `--permission-mode` is Claude Code's permission mode, or Codex's sandbox mode.

diff --git a/quest/m1/model-check.md b/quest/m1/model-check.md
@@ -75,8 +75,28 @@ checkpoints and outages to count by hand:
   - Too thin (0-4 PRs per cell) to move a size; no table changed. Watch
     iterates below the size's effort, and `Implementer:` lines without an
     effort (6 of the 20 lines said `unknown`).
+  - Changed after that run rather than on tallies (maintainer, 2026-11-09):
+    XS writes on Haiku xhigh instead of high. Tally that cell fresh. The
+    source was [mypriors.com/adamholter](https://mypriors.com/adamholter)'s
+    score against subscription cost per task, a 10-benchmark index read
+    off its chart (score, then $ per task), which this check compares each
+    cell with again:
+    - Haiku 5.5: high 30, $0.0034; xhigh 34.6, $0.0053.
+    - Sonnet 5.5: medium 30.7, $0.012; below the frontier at every effort,
+      so rejected for XS though Anthropic's
+      [model guide](https://claude.dev/blog/which-claude-model-should-you-build-with/)
+      favors it for scoped coding.
+    - Opus 5.5: low 34.7, $0.015; medium 48, $0.037; high 51.7, $0.052;
+      xhigh 57.3, $0.092; max 58.9, $0.15.
+    - gpt-6.1-sol: low 34.8, $0.0094; medium 46.3, $0.021; high 50.3,
+      $0.034; xhigh 52.5, $0.045.
+    - Fable 5.2: medium 56, $3.8; max 64.6, $26.5. Rejected for XL, which
+      stays on Opus xhigh, on the frontier; zero-data-retention
+      organizations may also be refused Fable.
+    - S looks lopsided: Opus low scores well below its Sol medium fallback,
+      which costs less. Check its tallies before moving it.
 - Compare both tables' models (in `src/cli/models.ts`) with each vendor's current models: the newest
-  general model. Bump any that are stale, and check that both CLIs
+  model of each tier the tables pin. Bump any that are stale, and check that both CLIs
   accept the new ids and the pinned efforts. `--deep` and its strongest-model
   tier were dropped in
   [moq-dev/quest#361](https://github.com/moq-dev/quest/pull/361).
@@ -85,7 +105,7 @@ checkpoints and outages to count by hand:
     2026-11-04): Sol low, medium, medium, high, and xhigh for XS to XL since
     the [token waste](/quest/m0/token-waste/README.md) audit (user,
     2026-11-05; it had high and xhigh for M and L), and Opus low, low,
-    medium, high, and high when Sol wrote the code (agent's choice). They replaced Codex `xhigh` and Claude `high` (maintainer,
+    medium, high, and xhigh when Sol wrote the code (agent's choice). They replaced Codex `xhigh` and Claude `high` (maintainer,
     2026-11-03), for which Claude Code 2.1.316 ran `claude-opus-5-5` with `--effort high` and
     `/code-review high`, and codex-cli 0.166.0 ran `gpt-6.1-sol` with
     `model_reasoning_effort="xhigh"`, both with `quest review`'s flags.

diff --git a/src/cli/models.ts b/src/cli/models.ts
@@ -22,10 +22,11 @@ const haiku = (effort: string): Model => ({ harness: "claude", model: "claude-ha
 /**
  * Each size's writers, ranked: a spawn starts the quest on the first that can
  * run, falling through only while nothing is written, since the model that
- * writes a PR runs all its iterates.
+ * writes a PR runs all its iterates. XS runs Haiku at xhigh, which scores about
+ * as Opus low does for a third of its subscription cost per task.
  */
 export const WRITERS: Record<Size, readonly Model[]> = {
-	XS: [haiku("high"), sol("low")],
+	XS: [haiku("xhigh"), sol("low")],
 	S: [opus("low"), sol("medium")],
 	M: [opus("medium"), sol("high")],
 	L: [opus("high"), sol("xhigh")],
@@ -34,7 +35,7 @@ export const WRITERS: Record<Size, readonly Model[]> = {
 
 /**
  * Each PR size's reviewers, ranked: the first whose model is not the latest
- * writer's reviews it, so Opus reviews what Sol changed last, at its own write efforts.
+ * writer's reviews it, so Claude reviews what Sol changed last.
  */
 export const REVIEWERS: Record<Size, readonly Model[]> = {
 	XS: [sol("low"), opus("low")],

diff --git a/test/cli.test.ts b/test/cli.test.ts
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ test("models ranks a size's writers, or the one entry that runs a PR's writer",
 	const tree = Tree.baseline();
 	expect(tree.run("models", "XS")).toEqual({
 		code: 0,
-		stdout: "claude\tclaude-haiku-5-5\thigh\ncodex\tgpt-6.1-sol\tlow\n",
+		stdout: "claude\tclaude-haiku-5-5\txhigh\ncodex\tgpt-6.1-sol\tlow\n",
 		stderr: "",
 	});
 	expect(JSON.parse(tree.run("models", "XL", "--json").stdout)).toEqual([
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ test("models ranks a size's writers, or the one entry that runs a PR's writer",
 	expect(writer("M", "gpt-6.1-sol")).toBe("codex\tgpt-6.1-sol\thigh\n");
 	// A writer its size does not list runs at the nearest size that lists it.
 	expect(writer("XS", "claude-opus-5-5")).toBe("claude\tclaude-opus-5-5\tlow\n");
-	expect(writer("L", "claude-haiku-5-5")).toBe("claude\tclaude-haiku-5-5\thigh\n");
+	expect(writer("L", "claude-haiku-5-5")).toBe("claude\tclaude-haiku-5-5\txhigh\n");
 	expect(writer("XL", "gpt-6.1-sol")).toBe("codex\tgpt-6.1-sol\txhigh\n");
 	const unknown = tree.run("models", "S", "--writer", "unknown");
 	expect(unknown.code).toBe(2);

diff --git a/test/review.test.ts b/test/review.test.ts
@@ -304,7 +304,7 @@ test("each size's reviewer is the first whose model is not the latest writer's",
 	expect(at("M", claude)).toBe("codex gpt-6.1-sol medium");
 	expect(at("L", claude)).toBe("codex gpt-6.1-sol high");
 	expect(at("XL", claude)).toBe("codex gpt-6.1-sol xhigh");
-	// Opus reviews what Sol wrote.
+	// Claude reviews what Sol wrote.
 	expect(at("XS", codex)).toBe("claude claude-opus-5-5 low");
 	expect(at("S", codex)).toBe("claude claude-opus-5-5 low");
 	expect(at("M", codex)).toBe("claude claude-opus-5-5 medium");