---
name: llm-model-comparison
description: Compare LLM models across benchmarks, pricing, and capabilities. For evaluating new models, recommending providers, and maintaining benchmark knowledge.
version: 1.0.0
author: Hermes Agent
license: MIT
metadata:
  hermes:
    tags: [llm, benchmark, model-comparison, evaluation, provider-selection]
triggers:
  - user asks "which model is better" or "compare X vs Y"
  - user asks about a new model they saw in news/早报
  - user wants to know if they should switch models
  - user asks "what level is this model" or "is X any good"
  - selecting a model provider for a new project
---

# LLM Model Comparison Skill

## When to Use
- User asks about a model they saw in news, 早报, or social media
- User wants to compare two or more models for a specific use case
- User asks "should I switch to X" or "is Y worth it"
- Selecting models for deployment, API integration, or fine-tuning
- **User asks to elaborate on a model or product mentioned in 橘鸦AI早报 or other news digests**

## Comparison Framework

### Step 1: Identify the Question
- Is this a "what is it?" question → give overview + positioning
- Is this a "should I use it?" question → compare against user's current stack
- Is this a "which is better?" question → structured comparison table

### Step 2: Gather Data
Use `mmx search` to find:
1. Official announcements and benchmark numbers
2. Third-party evaluations (non-linear benchmark, LMSYS, Artificial Analysis)
3. Community feedback and real-world usage reports

Search patterns:
```
mmx search query "<model name> benchmark MMLU 评测 2026"
mmx search query "<model name> vs <model name> comparison"
mmx search query "<model name> API pricing performance"
mmx search query "<模型中文名> 评测 benchmark"
```

For Chinese platform-specific models (SenseNova, Volcengine, Qwen, etc.), search in Chinese:
```
mmx search query "商汤 sensenova 模型 评测"
mmx search query "火山引擎 doubao 模型列表"
```

See `references/chinese-model-platforms.md` for known provider APIs and model catalogs.

### Step 3: Structure the Comparison

Use this table format for multi-model comparison:

| 维度 | Model A | Model B | Model C |
|------|---------|---------|---------|
| **开发者** | Company | Company | Company |
| **参数规模** | XxB | XxB | XxB |
| **架构** | Dense/MoE | Dense/MoE | Dense/MoE |
| **开源** | ✅/❌ | ✅/❌ | ✅/❌ |
| **中文能力** | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| **编程能力** | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| **Agent能力** | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| **性价比** | 描述 | 描述 | 描述 |

### Step 4: Scenario-Based Recommendation

Always end with a scenario table:

| 场景 | 推荐模型 | 理由 |
|------|----------|------|
| 中文日常对话 | X | 理由 |
| 编程任务 | Y | 理由 |
| Agent 开发 | Z | 理由 |
| 开源自部署 | W | 理由 |
| 成本敏感 | V | 理由 |

### Step 5: Actionable Next Steps
- If user already uses a model, compare against their current stack
- Offer to configure the new model in their environment
- Note any migration costs or compatibility issues

## Key Benchmark Sources

| Source | URL | What it measures |
|--------|-----|------------------|
| Artificial Analysis | artificialanalysis.ai | Speed, quality, price |
| LMSYS Chatbot Arena | lmarena.ai | Human preference (Elo) |
| non-linear ReLE | github.com/jeinlee1991/chinese-llm-benchmark | Chinese LLM comprehensive |
| SWE-bench Pro | swebench.com | Coding agent capability |
| BFCL-V3 | gorilla.cs.berkeley.edu | Function calling |
| MMLU | Various | General knowledge |

## Elaborating on 橘鸦AI早报 Items

When user says "细说X" or "elaborate on item X" from the daily news digest:

### Step 1: Find the source
```bash
# Search session history for the cron output
ls ~/.hermes/cron/output/9733a9cabb44/ | sort | tail -5
# Read the relevant file
cat ~/.hermes/cron/output/9733a9cabb44/<date>.md
```

### Step 2: Extract the specific item
Parse the numbered list and identify the item by number.

### Step 3: Deep research
Use `mmx search` to find:
1. Official announcements and product pages
2. Technical documentation or blog posts
3. Community reactions and early adopter feedback
4. Benchmark data if applicable

### Step 4: Structure the response
- One-line summary of what it is
- Detailed breakdown (features, specs, implications)
- Comparison with alternatives if relevant
- Actionable recommendation (try it? wait? skip?)

## Pitfalls

### Don't compare apples to oranges
- MoE models (e.g., 400B total, 13B active) ≠ Dense models of same total params
- Always note activated parameters for MoE models
- Pricing varies wildly: per-token vs per-request vs subscription

### Benchmark ≠ real-world performance
- Benchmark scores don't capture latency, rate limits, or availability
- Chinese benchmark scores may not reflect English performance and vice versa
- Agent benchmarks (SWE-bench, τ³-Bench) are more relevant for agentic use cases than MMLU

### Free tier traps
- "Free" models on platforms may have rate limits, latency, or availability issues
- Check if the free offer is temporary (e.g., "一周免费") before recommending
- Self-hosted "free" models still have compute costs

### Don't over-hype new releases
- New model announcements often cherry-pick favorable benchmarks
- Wait for third-party evaluations before making strong claims
- If user saw it in 早报/news, note it's worth watching but not necessarily switching

### ALWAYS use mmx search, NOT curl/browser
- **Never** fall back to curl-based scraping (Google, Baidu, DuckDuckGo) for model research — they all block or return empty
- **Never** try browser navigation for model research — sandbox issues are common and pages are SPAs
- `mmx search` is the only reliable research tool. If it fails, say so and give your best assessment from training data
- Do NOT attempt 10+ curl variations hoping one works — one `mmx search` call is worth 20 failed curl attempts

## Current User Stack (Reference)
- Primary model: MiMo 2.5 Pro (via Xiaomi API)
- Also available: MiniMax M2.7
- Hermes Agent: v0.12.0
- Use case: Agent tasks, coding, Chinese content

## References
- See `references/model-benchmarks-2026-05.md` for curated benchmark data
- See `references/chinese-model-platforms.md` for Chinese AI provider APIs, model naming conventions, and research heuristics
