Orkestra: Cost-Aware LLM Routing Layer for OpenClaw Reduces API Costs by 60-80%

What Orkestra Does

Orkestra is a cost-aware LLM routing layer built for OpenClaw that reduces API costs by 60-80%. It's a modular architecture that sits in front of model calls and decides which tier should handle each request based on semantic similarity.

How It Works

When a prompt comes in, it gets embedded and passed through a lightweight KNN classifier trained on previously labeled workloads. Based on semantic similarity, the router categorizes it as budget, balanced, or premium and forwards the call accordingly.

There's no prompt rewriting and no complex rule tree — just semantic classification at call time. The reduction in API costs comes primarily from preventing simpler prompts from defaulting to the most expensive models.

Integration with OpenClaw

Orkestra plugs in as an OpenClaw skill via a local proxy, so existing pipelines stay completely intact. The agent calls it through bash/curl to an OpenAI-compatible endpoint on 127.0.0.1:8765.

The response includes full cost transparency with the fields _orkestra.cost and _orkestra.savings_percent.

Supported Providers and Configuration

• Supported providers: Google (Gemini), Anthropic (Claude), OpenAI
• Routes across budget/balanced/premium tiers within each provider
• Supports multi-provider mode across all three providers
• Repository and OpenClaw integration available at: github.com/imperativelabs/orkestra
• See integrations/openclaw/ for the skill files, proxy, and config examples