cmax

name	cmax
description	The default FAT umbrella. Auto-runs deepresearch + multispec decomposition + parallel /goal + verify. Opus for planning/judgment/verification; Sonnet for sub-Spec execution (escalates per router). Multispec engine selects Mode A (SDK subagents) or Mode B (Claude Code Agent Teams) automatically based on work size. Your default daily-driver.

/cmax — default daily-driver

The umbrella. You describe what you want; the pipeline produces it — 0 → production-ready, autonomously, on a new or an existing project (it runs in the current directory).

One simple entry: cmax ask "<your goal>" (= /cmax). Hardened by default — production-ready bar (PRC) + spec self-correction (SSC) + adversarial, decomposed, evidence-gated verify. No flags to remember. Lighten only if you want: --mvp (ship an MVP), --no-ssc, --no-adversarial. Granular control lives on cmax run.

Ask. Achieve. No 10-question wizards, no model picker, no decomposition-by-hand. The SOTA-2026 spec-driven + deepresearch-backed pipeline runs automatically.

Pipeline (default behavior, no flags)

1. Taste check — read taste.md + taste.vision if present. If absent and the repo has signal, suggest cmax taste init. Don't violate taste.
2. /deepresearch — web-current research with source ledger. Persisted to memory.research_sources. 2-bis. verify-research (default ON, added 2026-06-09) — decomposed per-claim verification of the brief: parallel Haiku citation-support checks on the brief's own cached excerpts (no network, 60s timeouts), Sonnet escalation (one spot-fetch + one fresh search, 120s) only for findings the excerpts can't support. Contradicted findings are stripped into openQuestions; unverified ones flagged [unverified]; >30% escalation demand fails the brief and re-researches once. Timeouts count as unverified, never as pass.
3. multispec decompose — Fable 5 (while included →2026-06-22; Opus after) authors a MultiSpec: N sub-Specs (each with measurable completion conditions + verifyHints) + DAG + rollup completion conditions + per-sub-Spec writeSet.
4. /specqa (parallel per sub-Spec) — gate spec quality.
5. /introspect (parallel per sub-Spec) — confidence/assumption check. Block at confidence < 6.
6. Mode selection — engine picks Mode A (SDK subagents in one query()) or Mode B (Claude Code Agent Teams) based on sub-Spec count, est. duration, cross-spec coordination, write-set overlap. Override with --mode {auto|solo|teams}.
7. Parallel /goal per DAG leaf — every leaf at the current frontier runs in parallel up to the hardware + credit-aware cap. Sonnet executes sub-Specs by default; Opus on router escalations.
8. per-sub-Spec /verify (parallel) — blind Opus re-reads repo, re-checks each completion condition.
9. rollup /verify — blind Opus checks the rollupCompletionConditions across all sub-Spec outputs.
10. Memory record — run snapshot to memory.runs + state to .claudemax/state/.

Variants

Skill	Routing
/cmax	Default — Fable 5 plan/decompose (while included on Max, →2026-06-22; Opus after) + Sonnet/Opus exec per era + Opus verify
/opusolo	Opus exec for sub-Specs too (max effectiveness, ~3× cost)

The /workflow + /opussonnet aliases were removed 2026-05-28; the opussonnet/opusolo exec-tier variants remain via cmax run --variant. Fable 5 defaults auto-demote to Opus on 2026-06-23 when Fable bills usage credits (CMAX_FABLE_ACCESS=included|credits flips the configurations); cmax loop run --fable / --tier fable reach Fable explicitly in both modes — see docs/MODEL_ROUTING.md.

Hard rules

• Never declare success on the strength of the executor's own claim. The blind /verify is the source of truth.
• Verify and spec always run on Opus, never demoted regardless of credit % or --cheap.
• If /verify returns partial or failed, iterate /goal against the failing conditions; re-verify. If two iterations don't move it, the SPEC is probably wrong — re-spec, don't re-grind.
• Cost-guard kicks in at 70% of monthly Agent SDK credit (demote non-essential Opus → Sonnet); at 90% aggressive demote; at 95% --force required.

When NOT to invoke /cmax

• Trivial one-line changes — just edit.
• A single SPEC that fits in one /goal loop — invoke /goal directly on the existing SPEC.md.
• Pure research with no implementation — invoke /deepresearch directly.