Routine steps
Classification, extraction, validation, routing, and repair do not always need the most expensive model in the stack.
Payment Boundary
Payment happens after scope is confirmed, not when the intake is submitted.
The USD 99 diagnostic is intentionally small, but it still needs a clear scope and a verifiable payment record before work starts or revenue is counted.
Model Cost And Privacy
Use frontier models only where they matter.
Flev workflows can route routine, structured steps to local or private small models while keeping stronger models available for complex reasoning.
Reviewable routing
Teams should be able to see which model handled which step, why fallback exists, and who can approve changes.
Small-model ready
Better Call evidence shows tool-call accuracy improving from 73.4% to 83.8% on 3,625 granite4.1:3b BFCL v4 cases.
Payment Boundary
How the payment path works
Submit the intake
Send the failing path, target boundary, useful result, and whether you are ready for the USD 99 diagnostic if the scope fits.
Confirm fixed scope
We reply with the diagnostic boundary, timeline, access model, and what evidence is safe to share.
Pay only after agreement
After scope is confirmed, we send payment next steps. Interest, intake, or an unpaid invoice is not counted as earned revenue.
Success criteria
What counts as payment proof
It keeps the experiment honest: buyer intent moves the workflow to scope confirmation, but the income goal stays incomplete until authoritative payment evidence exists.
Counts
A paid invoice receipt, payment processor receipt, platform payment confirmation, or bank/payment account confirmation.
Does not count
A checkbox, email interest, a verbal yes, a draft invoice, or a payment request that has not cleared.
Privacy
Payment evidence should prove amount, date, and payer context without storing card numbers, private bank details, or unrelated personal data.
Why this boundary matters
Send one failing engineering path. We will scope the smallest useful paid pilot.
It keeps the experiment honest: buyer intent moves the workflow to scope confirmation, but the income goal stays incomplete until authoritative payment evidence exists.