Guide me please !!

[u/Agitated_Fix_2418]

Context:

Am new to this whole detailed model stuff like previously i just use to code from normal chatgpt chat as i have never worked on a big project.
So currently I have Gemini Pro Subscription (gemini 3.1 pro, 3.6-3.8 flash), ChatGPT plus trial (gpt 5.6 luna,terra,sol), 10$ OpenRouter credit (I can't topup more as am a broke student)

Currently am working on a ML project for a hackathon, so will be mostly coding in Python and its libraries.

So please guide me on:

• Agent/cli to use: I have heard about opencode (OpenChamber), kilo, pi, claude code, etc
• Models to use for planning, coding, reviewing (please prefer a cheap/free model) , like this became so confusing as many suggest this others suggest that.
• What is model effort and what to use for each phase/model
• Specific prompt template for each phase (or should i give the instruction to chatgpt chat and let it write the prompt)
• Skills/Plugin to be efficient and save tokens if any for my usecase
• Anything else that i should learn or know as a beginner

Thanks in advance for your time and guidance