algorithmic-complexity

MODEL / EFFORT — and a SAFEGUARD FALLBACK that split the session - Configured model Fable 5 (claude-fable-5) at effort = max, both set at session start via /model and /effort. Effort was constant (all 304 assistant turns ran at max). - The session did NOT run entirely on Fable 5. Fable 5 carries additional dual-use safety classifiers, and this task's biology/chemistry vocabulary (reaction-diffusion, morphogenesis, "Physarum polycephalum", species, pheromone, cross-inhibition, bioluminescence) tripped the "bio" classifier twice. Each time the API returned stop_reason=refusal and the harness fell back to Opus 4.8 (claude-opus-4-8). These are false positives — the work is purely mathematical generative art — but they materially changed which model produced the artifact. - Timeline (UTC): 04:20 Fable 5 begins (all four movements designed/built, 176 turns) → 04:58:21 bio refusal #1 + fallback → Opus 4.8 (19 turns) → 05:00:25 user interrupt → user re-set /model to Fable 5 (4 turns) → 05:02:15 bio refusal #2 + fallback → Opus 4.8 for the remainder (104 turns): the entire 1080p render orchestration, film assembly, QC, README, git commit, and this metadata analysis all ran on Opus 4.8. - Assistant-turn split: 180 on claude-fable-5, 130 on claude-opus-4-8. By output tokens: Fable 5 393,055 (77%) / Opus 4.8 114,782 (23%) — the Fable 5 phase was the token-heavy design/build work; the Opus phase was largely tool-execution orchestration with shorter model turns. EXECUTION MODEL - Single agent, fully serial. No subagents; no concurrent/parallel agents. - Harness features used: TaskCreate/TaskUpdate tracking; ToolSearch to load deferred tools (task tools, WebFetch, Monitor); one backgrounded Bash job for the final 1080p render; the Monitor tool to stream render progress; the claude-api skill (consulted for the model rate card used in the cost math). MEMORY / PERSISTENCE - File-based memory directory was available; no memory files were written or read this session. EXTERNAL RESOURCES (may affect reproducibility) - One WebFetch retrieved the canonical "Orbium unicaudatus" Lenia glider (params + RLE cells) from the Chakazul/Lenia animals.json. That data is now hardcoded in src/emergence/movements/lenia.py, so render-time reproduction needs no network. HOW THE TELEMETRY WAS DERIVED - Source: the session JSONL transcript. Tokens summed from each assistant response's usage {input_tokens, cache_creation_input_tokens, cache_read_input_tokens, output_tokens}, per model. Wall-clock from the min/max entry timestamp. - total-duration is exact. model-duration is an ESTIMATE (2900 s): the transcript has no per-turn generation-time field, so it is the summed latency from each preceding entry to each assistant completion (a TTFT+generation proxy that excludes tool/render waits). Treat as ±20%. - Cost = per-model usage × rate card (below), cache writes at the 1-hour-TTL 2× multiplier (verified 100% ephemeral_1h) and cache reads at 0.1×. - Caveats that could lower the true figure slightly: (a) refusal repricing — a pre-output decline is not billed and a fallback rescue gets automatic cache credit repricing; the two transition points may bill marginally less than the straight per-model math here. (b) The per-model cache_creation object summed ~3% higher than the flat cache_creation_input_tokens field for Opus; the flat (billed) field was used. - Uncounted: the final assistant turn(s) that WROTE this file aren't in the transcript yet, so token/cost figures are a slight undercount of the whole. RATE CARD (claude-api skill, cached 2026-06-24), $/MTok: fable-5 input $10.00 output $50.00 (cache-write-1h $20.00, read $1.00) opus-4-8 input $5.00 output $25.00 (cache-write-1h $10.00, read $0.50) RENDERING (context for the duration fields) - CPU-only; Numba JIT with on-disk caching. Host: Apple M5, 10 cores, 16 GB. - Final 1920x1080 render times, serial: attractor 243s, reaction 296s, lenia 119s, physarum 256s (~914s pure render), plus preview iterations, title cards, audio synthesis, and JIT warmup. ARTIFACT - emergence.mp4 (1920x1080, 30fps, 90.4s, H.264 + stereo AAC, ~60 MB) plus the render engine (src/emergence/, ~1900 LOC), four hero stills (gallery/), README.md, and this file.