Skip to main contentAdvanced Router Usage
Master advanced routing patterns, optimization strategies, and production best practices.
Overview
This guide covers advanced routing techniques for production applications, including cost optimization, context-aware routing, multi-turn conversations, and performance tuning.
What you’ll learn:
- Cost-optimized routing strategies
- Context-aware model selection
- Multi-turn conversation handling
- Performance optimization techniques
- Function calling with routing
- Production deployment patterns
Cost Optimization Strategies
Strategy 1: Tiered Routing by Query Complexity
Route simple queries to cheaper models and complex queries to premium models:
Strategy 2: Dynamic Budget Management
Track spending and adjust routing based on budget:
Context-Aware Routing
Use Case-Specific Candidate Pools
Define different candidate pools for different use cases:
Multi-Turn Conversations
Stateful Conversation with Routing
Maintain conversation state while using smart routing:
Function Calling with Routing
Combine smart routing with function calling:
Strategy 1: Client-Side Caching
Cache routing decisions for repeated queries:
Strategy 2: Parallel Requests with Routing
Make multiple routed requests in parallel:
Production Deployment Patterns
Pattern 1: Fallback to Fixed Model
Implement graceful fallback when routing fails:
Best Practices Summary
Cost Optimization
- ✅ Use tiered routing based on query complexity
- ✅ Track spending and adjust candidates dynamically
- ✅ Limit candidates to 3-5 models for faster routing
- ✅ Use budget models for simple queries
- ❌ Don’t use premium-only candidates for all queries
- ✅ Cache routing decisions at application level
- ✅ Use async/parallel requests for batch processing
- ✅ Set appropriate timeouts (30s recommended)
- ✅ Monitor routing latency in production
- ❌ Don’t make synchronous serial requests
Reliability
- ✅ Implement fallback to fixed models
- ✅ Handle routing failures gracefully
- ✅ Log routing errors for analysis
- ✅ Set up alerting for high failure rates
- ❌ Don’t rely solely on routing without fallback
Context Awareness
- ✅ Define use case-specific candidate pools
- ✅ Adjust candidates based on request characteristics
- ✅ Consider tools/functions in candidate selection
- ✅ Maintain conversation context across turns
- ❌ Don’t use same candidates for all use cases
Next Steps
