diff --git a/scripts/u/cascade b/scripts/u/cascade
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..a1664a0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/u/cascade
@@ -0,0 +1,104 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# u/cascade — script-driven hub-and-spoke cascading orchestrator.
+#
+# An expensive model decomposes a task into mechanical subtasks, then cheap
+# models execute them in parallel. The script (not an agent) coordinates.
+#
+# Usage: cascade [flags] [prompt...]
+#        echo "prompt" | cascade [flags]
+#
+# Flags:
+#   -pb BACKEND   planner backend (default: $OLLIE_CASCADE_PLAN_BACKEND or anthropic)
+#   -pm MODEL     planner model (default: $OLLIE_CASCADE_PLAN_MODEL or claude-sonnet-4-20250514)
+#   -wb BACKEND   worker backend (default: $OLLIE_CASCADE_BACKEND or ollama)
+#   -wm MODEL     worker model (default: $OLLIE_CASCADE_MODEL or qwen2.5-coder:14b)
+set -euo pipefail
+
+OLLIE="${OLLIE:-$HOME/mnt/ollie}"
+B="$OLLIE/s/b"
+
+PB="${OLLIE_CASCADE_PLAN_BACKEND:-anthropic}"
+PM="${OLLIE_CASCADE_PLAN_MODEL:-claude-sonnet-4-20250514}"
+WB="${OLLIE_CASCADE_BACKEND:-ollama}"
+WM="${OLLIE_CASCADE_MODEL:-qwen2.5-coder:14b}"
+
+die() { printf 'cascade: %s\n' "$*" >&2; exit 1; }
+
+while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
+    case $1 in
+        -pb) PB=$2; shift ;;
+        -pm) PM=$2; shift ;;
+        -wb) WB=$2; shift ;;
+        -wm) WM=$2; shift ;;
+        --)  shift; break ;;
+        -*)  die "unknown flag: $1" ;;
+        *)   break ;;
+    esac
+    shift
+done
+
+if [ $# -gt 0 ]; then
+    task="$*"
+elif ! [ -t 0 ]; then
+    task=$(cat)
+else
+    die "prompt required"
+fi
+[ -z "$task" ] && die "empty prompt"
+
+# Step 1: Ask the planner to decompose into subtasks (JSON array).
+plan=$("$B" -backend "$PB" -model "$PM" -json \
+    "Decompose this task into independent, mechanical subtasks that a weak model can execute without judgment. Each subtask must be fully self-contained (include all needed context). Output a JSON array of objects with \"id\" (short string) and \"instruction\" (complete task description). Keep it minimal — only decompose what benefits from parallelism.
+
+TASK:
+$task")
+
+# Validate we got JSON.
+printf '%s' "$plan" | jq empty 2>/dev/null || die "planner did not return valid JSON: $plan"
+
+# Step 2: Spawn workers in parallel, collect session paths.
+count=$(printf '%s' "$plan" | jq 'length')
+[ "$count" -eq 0 ] && die "planner returned empty plan"
+
+pids=()
+workers=()
+base="cascade-$(date +%s%N)"
+
+for i in $(seq 0 $((count - 1))); do
+    id=$(printf '%s' "$plan" | jq -r ".[$i].id")
+    instruction=$(printf '%s' "$plan" | jq -r ".[$i].instruction")
+    sid="${base}-${id}"
+    workers+=("$sid")
+
+    (
+        "$B" -name "$sid" -backend "$WB" -model "$WM" -keep \
+            "You are a worker agent. Execute the following task exactly. Output only the result.
+
+$instruction" > "/tmp/${sid}.out" 2>&1
+    ) &
+    pids+=($!)
+done
+
+# Step 3: Wait for all workers.
+for pid in "${pids[@]}"; do wait "$pid" || true; done
+
+# Step 4: Gather results.
+results=""
+for sid in "${workers[@]}"; do
+    out=$(cat "/tmp/${sid}.out" 2>/dev/null || echo "(no output)")
+    results="${results}
+--- ${sid} ---
+${out}
+"
+    rm -f "/tmp/${sid}.out"
+done
+
+# Step 5: Ask the planner to synthesize.
+"$B" -backend "$PB" -model "$PM" \
+    "Synthesize these worker results into a final, coherent answer to the original task.
+
+ORIGINAL TASK:
+$task
+
+WORKER RESULTS:
+$results"
diff --git a/tools/cascade b/tools/cascade
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..7510f0d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/cascade
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# ollie:parallel read
+# description: Delegate a mechanical subtask to a cheaper/weaker model. Returns immediately; the worker reports back to your prompt when done. Use for tasks requiring no judgment — edits, lookups, transforms, formatting.
+# Args: <instruction> [id]
+set -euo pipefail
+
+OLLIE="${OLLIE:-$HOME/mnt/ollie}"
+BACKEND="${OLLIE_CASCADE_BACKEND:-ollama}"
+MODEL="${OLLIE_CASCADE_MODEL:-qwen2.5-coder:14b}"
+
+die() { printf 'cascade: %s\n' "$*" >&2; exit 1; }
+
+instruction="${1:-}"
+[ -z "$instruction" ] && die "instruction required"
+
+id="${2:-cascade-$(date +%s%N)-$$}"
+[ -n "$OLLIE_SESSION_ID" ] && id="${OLLIE_SESSION_ID}__${id}"
+
+kv="name=${id}
+cwd=$(pwd)
+backend=${BACKEND}
+model=${MODEL}"
+printf '%s\n' "$kv" > "$OLLIE/s/new" || die "failed to create session"
+
+B="$OLLIE/s/$id"
+deadline=$(( $(date +%s) + 5 ))
+until [ -d "$B" ] || [ "$(date +%s)" -ge "$deadline" ]; do sleep 0.05; done
+[ -d "$B" ] || die "timeout waiting for session $id"
+
+prompt="[parent_session_id=${OLLIE_SESSION_ID}]
+[session_id=${id}]
+
+You are a worker agent. Execute the following task exactly. Output only the result.
+When finished, write your result to: ${OLLIE}/s/${OLLIE_SESSION_ID}/prompt
+Use this exact format:
+[from=${id}]
+STATUS: done
+SUMMARY: <your result>
+
+TASK:
+${instruction}"
+
+printf '%s\n' "$prompt" > "$B/prompt" || die "failed to submit prompt"
+printf 'spawned %s\n' "$B"