| name | recommend-model |
| description | Intelligent, preference-driven model recommendation across fal.ai, Replicate, WaveSpeedAI, and MiniMax (Hailuo). Asks the user a short set of preference questions (workload, priority — quality vs speed vs cost, max budget per output, resolution/aspect/duration, NSFW tolerance, must-have features like lip-sync or audio), queries each available provider, and returns a ranked shortlist (3–5 options) with approximate per-output costs, quality/speed notes, and a recommendation. Differs from `model-researcher`: live-API backed, cost-first, and conversational about preferences. |
Recommend model
Conversational model picker. Use this when the user asks "what should I use for X" or "find me a cheap/good/fast model for X". For deep written research, use model-researcher instead.
Step 1 — Capture preferences
Ask only the questions you don't already know from brief/creative-brief.md:
- Workload: text-to-image, text-to-video, image-to-video, lip-sync, voice/TTS, upscale, interpolate, other.
- Priority: quality / speed / cost (pick one as primary, one as secondary).
- Budget ceiling: per-output cap (e.g. "$0.20 per clip"), or "no cap, just tell me".
- Output specs: resolution, aspect ratio, duration (for video).
- Hard requirements: e.g. needs audio, needs >10s, needs lip-sync, needs photoreal faces, needs commercial license.
- Provider preference: fal / Replicate / WaveSpeed / MiniMax / any (default: any). Only suggest providers whose key is present in
~/.config/ai-video-producer/.env.
Keep this short — one batched message, not five round trips. Infer from the brief where possible.
Step 2 — Query providers
Replicate (use the bundled MCP):
mcp__plugin_ai-video-producer_replicate__search_models with a query like the workload ("image-to-video", "lipsync", "upscaler").- For top hits, call
mcp__plugin_ai-video-producer_replicate__get_models for pricing/hardware metadata, and list_models_versions if a specific version is needed.
- Pricing on Replicate is usually per-second of GPU time × hardware tier — convert to per-output by multiplying by typical run time stated on the model page.
fal.ai (hosted MCP exists for catalogue, but is thin — prefer web fetch):
- Use
WebFetch against https://fal.ai/models?categories=<category> and individual model pages (e.g. https://fal.ai/models/fal-ai/<slug>).
- fal usually quotes per-second-of-output or per-megapixel — use what the page states.
- Execution path is
runners/fal_run.mjs — confirm the model id matches the fal-ai/<slug> form the runner expects.
WaveSpeedAI (no MCP — catalog via web):
WebFetch https://wavespeed.ai/models and individual model pages. Slugs follow wavespeed-ai/<family>/<variant> (e.g. wavespeed-ai/z-image/turbo).- WaveSpeed is positioned as a fast/cheap inference platform — strong fit when the priority is speed or cost. Pricing is typically per-output, listed on each model page.
- Execution path is
runners/wavespeed_run.py.
MiniMax (Hailuo video, T2A speech, music — via the bundled minimax-mcp):
- Tools available:
generate_video (Hailuo, including MiniMax-Hailuo-02 with 6s/10s @ 768P/1080P), text_to_image, text_to_audio, voice_clone, voice_design, music_generation.
- No catalogue browse — model selection is by tool, not by id. For video, mention the
MiniMax-Hailuo-02 option explicitly when the user is choosing a text-to-video or image-to-video model.
- Always check
query_video_generation for async jobs.
Always record the date checked. This space changes weekly.
Step 3 — Rank and report
Produce a compact table:
| Model | Provider | Approx cost/output | Quality | Speed | Notes |
Then a one-paragraph recommendation tied to the user's stated priority — and call out the tradeoff (e.g. "Kling 2.1 is ~3× the price of LTX but holds character identity over 10s; if you need <6s LTX is the better buy").
Cost approximates: state assumptions inline (e.g. "~$0.18 per 5s clip @ 720p, assuming the model's quoted 30s GPU time on A100"). Don't pretend to precision the providers don't give you.
Step 4 — Persist (optional)
If the user accepts a recommendation, offer to:
- Append it to
brief/tools-and-models.md (the canonical project-level model registry).
- Save the full shortlist to
research/recommendations-<workload>-<YYYY-MM-DD>.md for later reference.
Don't write either file without confirmation.
Discipline
- Don't recommend a model that requires a provider the project isn't already wired up to (no fal key configured? flag it). Same for
WAVESPEED_API_KEY and MINIMAX_API_KEY.
- Per-second-of-output ≠ per-second-of-generation. Always check which the provider quotes.
- If the Replicate MCP returns a model with no public pricing (private/custom), say so — don't fabricate a number.
- For MiniMax, region matters: Global vs Mainland keys/hosts must match. If the user reports "Invalid API key", suspect a region mismatch first.
- If both providers host the same underlying model (e.g. Flux), compare proxy markups and pick the cheaper unless the more expensive one offers something concrete (faster cold start, higher rate limits).
- NSFW / commercial-use caveats: surface them, don't bury them.
