Phase 4 — Model Catalogs and Trend Reading

How to navigate thousands of fast-changing models without drowning: use catalogs to shortlist, read benchmarks and pricing skeptically, track releases/deprecations, and maintain one automated watchlist that feeds your decisions.

Why this phase matters

Phase 3 taught you to read a single model's documents. Phase 4 zooms out to the market: comparing many models efficiently and keeping current as it churns weekly. The output is operational — a catalog explorer, a release detector, a benchmark-skeptic's checklist, a cost/margin calculator, and a maintained watchlist — all feeding model selection (Phase 5) and the gateway (Phase 8).

Documents

#	Document	What you'll be able to do
00	How to Use models.dev	Filter thousands of models to candidates; import the catalog
01	Column-by-Column Guide	Read every catalog column; flag the binding constraint
02	How to Track Model Releases	Run a tiered system; triage releases; catch deprecations
03	How to Read Benchmarks	Read benchmarks skeptically; decide with your eval
04	How to Read Pricing Pages	Turn a pricing page into cost-per-request and margin
05	How to Build a Model Watchlist	Maintain one automated, dated, eval-backed watchlist

How to work through it

Read in order — 00/01 are the catalog mechanics, 02–04 the skeptical reading skills, and 05 the capstone that ties them into a maintained artifact. The labs compound: the catalog importer (00) → column reader (01) → release diff (02) → benchmark + cost tools (03/04) → all feed the watchlist (05), which feeds the Phase 8 gateway.