Multi-AI coordination

How three AI providers coordinate with role assignment, consensus gates, and cost transparency

Three providers, one workflow

Claude Octopus orchestrates Codex (OpenAI), Gemini (Google), and Claude (Anthropic) across every workflow. Each provider has a distinct role designed to leverage its unique strengths.

You don’t need all three providers. One external provider plus Claude gives you multi-AI features. No external providers still gives you 33 personas, workflows, and skills.

Provider roles

Each provider is assigned a specific role based on its strengths:

Codex

Implementation depth

• Code generation
• Technical analysis
• Architecture patterns
• API design
• Algorithm optimization

Gemini

Ecosystem breadth

• Research synthesis
• Alternative approaches
• Security review
• Best practices
• Community patterns

Claude

Orchestration & synthesis

• Quality gates
• Consensus building
• Strategic synthesis
• Moderation
• Final recommendations

Why these roles?

Role assignment is based on empirical testing and provider characteristics:

Provider	Underlying Model	Key Strength	Role Assignment
Codex	GPT-5.3-Codex	Code generation, structured output	Implementation details
Gemini	Gemini 3.0 Pro	Research synthesis, broad knowledge	Ecosystem analysis
Claude	Sonnet 4.6 / Opus 4.6	Nuanced reasoning, code review	Synthesis & moderation

Role assignment by workflow

Different workflows emphasize different provider strengths:

Discover

Discover phase role assignment

Execution: Parallel (fastest)

Provider	Task	Why This Provider?
🔴 Codex	Technical implementation analysis	Deep code pattern knowledge
🟡 Gemini	Ecosystem and community research	Broad web knowledge
🔵 Claude	Strategic synthesis	Best at combining perspectives

Example:

# Both run simultaneously
codex exec "analyze OAuth 2.0 implementation patterns" &
gemini -p "" "research OAuth 2.0 ecosystem and best practices" &
wait

# Claude synthesizes
claude --print "synthesize findings from both perspectives"

Define

Define phase role assignment

Execution: Sequential (most coherent)

Step	Provider	Task	Why This Provider?
1	🔴 Codex	Problem statement	Technical precision
2	🟡 Gemini	Success criteria	Broad perspective
3	🟡 Gemini	Constraints	Risk awareness
4	🟡 Gemini	Consensus	Synthesis capability

Example:

codex exec "define core problem in 2-3 sentences"
gemini -p "" "define 3-5 measurable success criteria"
gemini -p "" "define constraints and boundaries"
gemini -p "" "build consensus from all perspectives"

Develop

Develop phase role assignment

Execution: Parallel proposals + sequential merge

Step	Provider	Task	Why This Provider?
1	🔴 Codex	Implementation approach A	Code generation
1	🟡 Gemini	Implementation approach B	Alternative patterns
2	🔵 Claude	Merge best elements	Synthesis expertise
3	All	Quality gate (75% threshold)	Consensus validation

Example:

# Both propose approaches in parallel
codex exec "propose implementation approach" &
gemini -p "" "propose alternative implementation" &
wait

# Claude merges
claude --print "merge best elements from both approaches"

# All validate
check_quality_gate  # Must reach 75% agreement

Deliver

Deliver phase role assignment

Execution: Parallel (adversarial review)

Provider	Focus Area	Why This Provider?
🔴 Codex	Code quality, patterns, maintainability	Technical expertise
🟡 Gemini	Security, edge cases, compliance	Broad risk analysis
🔵 Claude	Synthesis and go/no-go decision	Nuanced judgment

Example:

# Both review simultaneously (adversarial)
codex exec "review code quality and patterns" &
gemini -p "" "review security and edge cases" &
wait

# Claude synthesizes and decides
claude --print "synthesize reviews and recommend ship/no-ship"

Debate

Debate workflow role assignment

Execution: All three in parallel (round-robin)

Provider	Position	Why This Provider?
🔴 Codex	Technical perspective	Implementation depth
🟡 Gemini	Ecosystem perspective	Strategic breadth
🔵 Claude	Independent analysis + moderation	Balanced synthesis

Example:

# Round 1: All providers give independent positions
codex exec "argue technical perspective" &
gemini -p "" "argue ecosystem perspective" &
claude --print "independent analysis" &
wait

# Round 2+: Rebuttals (optional)
# ...

# Claude moderates final verdict
claude --print "synthesize debate and recommend path"

Consensus gates

Consensus gates enforce agreement thresholds before work advances.

How consensus is measured

Scoring methodology

Consensus score is based on:

1. Subtask success rate - What percentage of subtasks succeeded?
2. Agreement score - How similar are the provider outputs?
3. Conflict detection - Are there direct contradictions?

Formula:

Consensus Score = (success_rate * 0.5) + (agreement * 0.3) + (1 - conflicts * 0.2)

Threshold configuration

Default threshold: 75%

Override via environment variable:

# Stricter (85% required)
export CLAUDE_OCTOPUS_QUALITY_THRESHOLD=85

# More lenient (60% required)
export CLAUDE_OCTOPUS_QUALITY_THRESHOLD=60

Lowering below 75% reduces confidence in multi-AI consensus. Use cautiously.

What happens at gate failure?

1. Identify disagreements

   Parse which subtasks failed and where providers disagree

2. Analyze root cause

   Determine if disagreement is fundamental or resolvable

3. Revision attempt

   Retry with refined prompt or additional context (max 3 attempts)

4. Human escalation

   Present findings and ask user to break tie or adjust approach

Cost transparency

Claude Octopus shows exactly which providers are running and what it costs.

Visual indicators

Before every multi-AI workflow, you see:

🐙 CLAUDE OCTOPUS ACTIVATED - Multi-provider research mode
🔍 Discover Phase: Researching authentication patterns

Providers:
🔴 Codex CLI - Technical implementation analysis
🟡 Gemini CLI - Ecosystem and community research
🔵 Claude - Strategic synthesis

💰 Estimated Cost: $0.02-0.05
⏱️  Estimated Time: 30-60 seconds

Provider cost breakdown

Provider	Cost Source	Estimated Per Query
🔴 Codex	Your OPENAI_API_KEY	$0.01-0.15 (depends on model)
🟡 Gemini	Your GEMINI_API_KEY	$0.01-0.03
🔵 Claude	Included in Claude Code subscription	$0 (included)

Model costs (as of Feb 2026):

Codex

Model	Input	Output	Use Case
gpt-5.3-codex	$1.75/MTok	$14/MTok	Premium (default)
gpt-5.3-codex-spark	$1.75/MTok	$14/MTok	Ultra-fast (1000+ tok/s)
gpt-5.2-codex	$1.00/MTok	$8/MTok	Standard
gpt-5.1-codex-mini	$0.30/MTok	$1.25/MTok	Budget

Gemini

Model	Input	Output	Use Case
gemini-3-pro-preview	~$0.01/query	~$0.01/query	Premium (default)
gemini-3-flash-preview	~$0.005/query	~$0.005/query	Fast
gemini-3-pro-image	~$0.02/query	~$0.02/query	Vision tasks

Claude

Model	Input	Output	Use Case
Sonnet 4.6	Included	Included	Default (Claude Code subscription)
Opus 4.6	$5/MTok	$25/MTok	Premium reasoning (extra-usage billing)
Opus 4.6 Fast	$30/MTok	$150/MTok	Low latency (6x cost, v2.1.36+)

Cost controls

Set spending limit

# Abort if estimated cost exceeds $0.50
export OCTOPUS_MAX_COST_USD=0.50

Workflows check estimated cost before execution and abort if over limit.

Smart cost routing (v8.20.0+)

Provider router automatically selects cheapest capable provider:

• Analyzes task requirements
• Matches to provider capabilities
• Selects cheapest option that can handle it
• Falls back if first choice unavailable

Use fewer providers

Install only one external provider:

• Codex only: Dual perspective (Codex + Claude)
• Gemini only: Dual perspective (Gemini + Claude)
• Neither: Claude-only mode (personas and workflows still work)

Provider authentication

Claude Octopus supports two authentication methods:

OAuth (recommended)

OAuth authentication

Codex:

codex login
# Uses your ChatGPT subscription
# No per-token billing

Gemini:

gemini login
# Uses your Google AI subscription
# No per-token billing

Benefits:

• Included in existing subscription
• No API key management
• Auto-refresh tokens

API Keys

API key authentication

Codex:

export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-..."

Gemini:

export GEMINI_API_KEY="AIza..."

Benefits:

• Works in CI/CD
• Fine-grained control
• No interactive login

Tradeoffs:

• Per-token billing
• Manual key rotation

Provider detection

Claude Octopus auto-detects available providers:

# Check provider status
/octo:setup

# Output:
# Providers:
#   🔴 Codex CLI: ready (OAuth authenticated)
#   🟡 Gemini CLI: ready (GEMINI_API_KEY found)
#   🔵 Claude: ready (built-in)

Graceful degradation

Available Providers	Behavior
Codex + Gemini + Claude	Full three-way orchestration
Codex + Claude	Dual perspective (Codex + Claude)
Gemini + Claude	Dual perspective (Gemini + Claude)
Claude only	Single-provider mode (personas still work)

Workflows automatically adapt based on what’s available.

Security considerations

Environment isolation (v8.7.0+)

External providers run with minimal environment:

# Only essential variables passed
env -i PATH="$PATH" HOME="$HOME" \
  OPENAI_API_KEY="$key" TMPDIR="/tmp" \
  codex exec "prompt"

Prevents:

• API key leakage to external providers
• Access to sensitive environment variables
• Unintended environment pollution

Trust markers

Provider outputs are wrapped with trust indicators:

<external-cli-output provider="codex" trust="untrusted">
  [Codex output here]
</external-cli-output>

<external-cli-output provider="gemini" trust="untrusted">
  [Gemini output here]  
</external-cli-output>

Claude outputs pass through unchanged (trusted by default).

Data flow

Best practices

Trust the roles

Don’t second-guess role assignment. Codex for implementation, Gemini for ecosystem, Claude for synthesis—each provider does what it does best.

Respect consensus gates

If providers disagree significantly (less than 75% consensus), investigate why. Forcing through disagreements undermines multi-AI value.

Use cost controls

Set OCTOPUS_MAX_COST_USD on shared accounts or CI/CD to prevent runaway costs.

OAuth when possible

Use OAuth authentication instead of API keys—it’s included in subscriptions and requires no key management.

Next steps

Double Diamond

Learn about the four-phase workflow structure

Workflows

Explore workflow patterns and autonomy modes

Provider setup

Configure Codex and Gemini authentication

Cost optimization

Learn to minimize multi-AI costs