Let a free model triage your reading: one-line summary + reply flag

The Stack

Steps

1. 1

   Write the triage config and validate it

   Point your client at https://openrouter.ai/api/v1 with a :free model, and give it one standing instruction: summarize in a sentence and flag whether it needs a reply. CI checks the config shape; running it on your pile needs a key and is fenced.

   cat > triage.json <<'JSON'
   {
     "base_url": "https://openrouter.ai/api/v1",
     "model": "deepseek/deepseek-r1:free",
     "instruction": "Summarize this in one sentence and flag whether it needs a reply.",
     "response_schema": {
       "type": "object",
       "properties": {
         "summary": { "type": "string" },
         "needs_reply": { "type": "boolean" }
       },
       "required": ["summary", "needs_reply"]
     }
   }
   JSON
   node -e '
   const fs = require("fs");
   const c = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync("triage.json", "utf8"));
   function bad(m) { console.error("BAD: " + m); process.exit(1); }
   if (!c.base_url || !String(c.base_url).includes("openrouter.ai")) bad("base_url does not point at OpenRouter");
   const m = c.model || "";
   if (!m.endsWith(":free")) bad("model is not an OpenRouter free model (id must end with :free)");
   const props = (c.response_schema && c.response_schema.properties) || {};
   if (!props.summary || props.summary.type !== "string") bad("schema missing a string summary");
   if (!props.needs_reply || props.needs_reply.type !== "boolean") bad("schema missing a boolean needs_reply");
   console.log("config OK: OpenRouter free model " + m + ", triage returns a one-line summary + needs_reply flag");
   '

2. 2

   Wire it into your tools (the model step, not checked by CI)

   Drop your OpenRouter key into any tool that takes one (notes app, email automation, a small script) and feed each item through the config. Read the summaries, open only the flagged few. Keep sensitive items on a cheap paid model. The summarization is fenced.