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Core vs Advanced

Bellwether is designed to stay focused. Most users should use the core workflow only.

Core Workflow (Default)​

Use this for day-to-day reliability and CI gating:

  1. bellwether init
  2. bellwether check
  3. bellwether baseline save
  4. bellwether check --fail-on-drift (in CI)

Core workflow characteristics:

  • Deterministic
  • Fast
  • No LLM required
  • Low operational complexity

Advanced Workflow (Opt-in)​

Use advanced commands when you need deeper analysis beyond structural drift:

  • explore for LLM behavioral probing
  • watch for local continuous checks
  • discover for quick capability inspection
  • golden for output-level regression tests
  • contract for explicit contract validation
  • registry for MCP server discovery

Advanced workflow characteristics:

  • More configuration options
  • Potential model/runtime cost
  • Higher surface area

Scope Rule​

Default to core unless there is a clear reason to opt in.

This keeps Bellwether deployments stable, understandable, and cheap to run.