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thinking changedbuild-with-claude/thinking

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First seen 14 Aug 2026 this site's first read of the page
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11061106[Preserved thinking](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/preserved-thinking) determines whether the model can use a thinking block that you send back from an earlier turn. Starting with Claude Fable 5.1, the API checks the `signature` of every `thinking` or `redacted_thinking` block in a request for two things:
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11081108* **The model that produced it.** Each model reads its own thinking blocks and those of a fixed set of other models. Claude Fable 5.1 reads blocks from Claude Opus 5 and, on the Claude API, from Claude Opus 5.5; neither Claude Opus 5 nor Claude Opus 5.5 reads blocks from Claude Fable 5.1. The API drops a block the current model can’t read, without an error and without billing it. See [Switching models mid-conversation](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/preserved-thinking#switching-models).
1109* **Everything sent before it.** A block stays valid only while the top-level `system` prompt, the `tools`, and the messages before it are unchanged. If any of them changes, that block and every later thinking block are invalid, and the API rejects the request with a 400 error or drops the invalid blocks, whichever you choose. See [Keeping the prefix unchanged](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/preserved-thinking#prefix-check).
1109* **Everything sent before it.** A block stays valid only while the top-level `system` prompt, the `tools`, and the messages before it are unchanged. If any of them changes, that block and every later thinking block fail the prefix check. See [Keeping the prefix unchanged](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/preserved-thinking#prefix-check).
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1111Thinking blocks from Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Claude Haiku 5.5 are also tied to the account that produced them. See [Thinking blocks stay with the account that produced them](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/preserved-thinking#account-bound-thinking) for where the API enforces this.
1111Thinking blocks from Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Claude Haiku 5.5 are also tied to the account that produced them. See [Thinking blocks stay with the account that produced them](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/preserved-thinking#account-bound-thinking) for where this applies.
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1113The model check applies to every account. The API enforces the prefix check by default for accounts created on or after August 31, 2026, 00:00 UTC. On older accounts it enforces the check only on requests that set `thinking.block_binding.prefix_mismatch_behavior`. Make your integration append-only regardless of your account’s age, so the same code works on every account, including newer accounts enforced by default.
1113The prefix check runs on Claude Fable 5.1, Claude Mythos 5.1, Claude Opus 5.5, Claude Sonnet 5.5, and Claude Haiku 5.5. Make your integration append-only so that the thinking blocks you send back pass it. [What the API does with an invalid block](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/preserved-thinking#mismatch-behavior) covers what happens when one fails.
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11151115To keep thinking valid, send every assistant turn back exactly as you received it and add new messages only at the end of `messages`. If your code builds the `messages` array itself, the Preserved thinking page covers:
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11171117* [What counts as an edit](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/preserved-thinking#what-counts-as-an-edit), and [how to check whether your code makes an edit](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/preserved-thinking#how-to-tell-whether-your-integration-is-impacted).
11181118* The [API feature that replaces each common edit](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/preserved-thinking#replace-prefix-edits): mid-conversation system messages for new instructions and per-turn reminders, `tool_addition` and `tool_removal` blocks for tool changes, per-message `output_config` for effort changes, and server-side compaction and context editing for trimming.
11191119* [Client-side compaction](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/preserved-thinking#custom-compaction-on-the-client): which patterns keep thinking valid and which don’t.
1120* The [`thinking-binding-controls-2026-08-01` beta header](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/preserved-thinking#preserved-thinking-controls). It adds a `block_binding.prefix_mismatch_behavior` field (`"error"` or `"drop_block"`) to the thinking configuration and an `input_transformations` array to every response. The array lists each thinking block that the API dropped, or that failed the prefix check and was let through.
1120* The [`thinking-binding-controls-2026-08-01` beta header](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/preserved-thinking#preserved-thinking-controls). It adds a `block_binding.prefix_mismatch_behavior` field (`"error"` or `"drop_block"`) to the thinking configuration and an `input_transformations` array to every response. The array lists each thinking block that the API dropped or that failed the prefix check and reached the model.
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11221122## Thinking and prompt caching
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