thinking changedbuild-with-claude/thinking
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3838**API support**: Usage differs by product.
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40* **Messages API**: On by default. Turn it off with `thinking: {"type": "disabled"}`. Where it is off by default, set `thinking` to turn it on.
40* **Messages API**: On by default. `thinking: {"type": "disabled"}` turns it off on models that accept that value. Where it is off by default, set `thinking` to turn it on.
4141* **Managed Agents**: Always on. Managed Agents sets the thinking configuration; the agent definition has no `thinking` field.
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4343A model that answers in a single pass has to get everything right on the first try: no scratch work, no checking, no changing approach halfway through. For a proof, a tricky bug, or a long agentic task, the first approach is often not the best one.
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103103In the table, “at `high` effort or below” means the request works at `low`, `medium`, and `high` effort and returns a 400 error at `xhigh` or `max`.
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105On Claude Opus 5.5, Claude Opus 5, Claude Sonnet 5.5, Claude Sonnet 5, Claude Fable 5.1, Claude Mythos 5.1, Claude Fable 5, Claude Mythos 5, Claude Mythos Preview, and Claude Haiku 5.5, thinking is already on and needs no configuration. `display` defaults to `"omitted"` on these models, so the thinking text is hidden until you opt in. Opt in with `thinking: {"type": "adaptive", "display": "summarized"}`, as the following examples do.
105On Claude 5 and later models and Claude Mythos Preview, thinking is already on and needs no configuration. `display` defaults to `"omitted"` on these models, so the thinking text is hidden until you opt in. Opt in with `thinking: {"type": "adaptive", "display": "summarized"}`, as the following examples do.
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107107On Claude Opus 4.8, Claude Opus 4.7, Claude Opus 4.6, and Claude Sonnet 4.6, thinking is off until you set `thinking: {type: "adaptive"}`, which lets Claude determine when and how deeply to think based on the request. The same request, with the [model string](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/models/overview) swapped, turns it on there. The following examples set `display: "summarized"` so the thinking text is visible, and use a large `max_tokens`:
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11001100The tradeoff is context usage: long conversations consume more context space on keep-all models, because retained thinking blocks count as input like any other conversation history (see [Thinking and the context window](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/thinking#thinking-and-the-context-window)). The behavior is automatic in both regimes. No code changes or beta headers are required, and you should keep passing complete, unmodified thinking blocks back as described in [Preserving thinking blocks](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/thinking#preserving-thinking-blocks). To override the default in either direction, use [thinking block clearing](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/context-editing#thinking-block-clearing).
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1102**Switching models mid-conversation.** Keep passing thinking blocks back unchanged when you switch models, for example after a [classifier refusal fallback](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/refusals-and-fallback). A thinking block is readable only by the model that produced it and certain other models, and the API ignores or drops the blocks the target model can’t read. On Claude Fable 5.1 and Claude Mythos 5.1 the direction matters: they read earlier models’ thinking blocks, and only the two of them read each other’s, so switching to them keeps the conversation’s reasoning and switching from them to any other model drops it (see [how dropped blocks are billed and reported](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/preserved-thinking#switching-models)). Claude Opus 5.5 reads Claude Opus 5’s thinking blocks and those of earlier Opus, Sonnet, and Haiku models, and, on the Claude API and Claude Models on Google Cloud (Google managed), of Claude Haiku 5.5, but not those of the Claude Fable and Claude Mythos models; on the Claude API, Claude Fable 5.1 and Claude Mythos 5.1 read Claude Opus 5.5’s blocks. A switch from Claude Opus 5.5 up to Claude Fable 5.1 on the Claude API keeps the earlier turns’ reasoning; a switch from Claude Fable 5.1 to Claude Opus 5.5 drops it. Claude Sonnet 5.5 reads thinking blocks from Claude Sonnet 5, Claude Opus 4.8, Claude Haiku 4.5, and earlier models, and, on the Claude API and Claude Models on Google Cloud (Google managed), from Claude Haiku 5.5, but not from Claude Opus 5, Claude Opus 5.5, or any Claude Fable or Claude Mythos model. On those two platforms, Claude Opus 5.5 reads Claude Sonnet 5.5’s blocks and no other model does: a switch from Claude Sonnet 5.5 up to Claude Opus 5.5 there keeps the earlier turns’ reasoning, and any other switch away from Claude Sonnet 5.5 drops it. Claude Haiku 5.5 reads thinking blocks from Claude Sonnet 5, Claude Opus 4.8, Claude Haiku 4.5, and earlier models, but not from Claude Opus 5, Claude Opus 5.5, Claude Sonnet 5.5, or any Claude Fable or Claude Mythos model. On the Claude API and Claude Models on Google Cloud (Google managed), Claude Opus 5.5 and Claude Sonnet 5.5 read Claude Haiku 5.5’s blocks and no other model does. Strip prior `thinking` and `redacted_thinking` blocks yourself only to save input tokens on models that ignore rather than drop them, and never when redeeming a [fallback credit](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/fallback-credit), which requires the body unchanged.
1102**Switching models mid-conversation.** Keep passing thinking blocks back unchanged when you switch models, for example after a [classifier refusal fallback](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/refusals-and-fallback). A thinking block is readable only by the model that produced it and certain other models, and the API ignores or drops the blocks the target model can’t read. On Claude Fable 5.1 and Claude Mythos 5.1 the direction matters: they read earlier models’ thinking blocks, and only the two of them read each other’s, so switching to them keeps the conversation’s reasoning and switching from them to any other model drops it (see [how dropped blocks are billed and reported](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/preserved-thinking#switching-models)). Claude Opus 5.5 reads Claude Opus 5’s thinking blocks and those of earlier Opus, Sonnet, and Haiku models, and, on the Claude API and Claude Models on Google Cloud (Google managed), of Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Claude Haiku 5.5, but not those of the Claude Fable and Claude Mythos models; on the Claude API, Claude Fable 5.1 and Claude Mythos 5.1 read Claude Opus 5.5’s blocks. A switch from Claude Opus 5.5 up to Claude Fable 5.1 on the Claude API keeps the earlier turns’ reasoning; a switch from Claude Fable 5.1 to Claude Opus 5.5 drops it. Claude Sonnet 5.5 reads thinking blocks from Claude Sonnet 5, Claude Opus 4.8, Claude Haiku 4.5, and earlier models, and, on the Claude API and Claude Models on Google Cloud (Google managed), from Claude Haiku 5.5, but not from Claude Opus 5, Claude Opus 5.5, or any Claude Fable or Claude Mythos model. On those two platforms, Claude Opus 5.5 reads Claude Sonnet 5.5’s blocks and no other model does: a switch from Claude Sonnet 5.5 up to Claude Opus 5.5 there keeps the earlier turns’ reasoning, and any other switch away from Claude Sonnet 5.5 drops it. Claude Haiku 5.5 reads thinking blocks from Claude Sonnet 5, Claude Opus 4.8, Claude Haiku 4.5, and earlier models, but not from Claude Opus 5, Claude Opus 5.5, Claude Sonnet 5.5, or any Claude Fable or Claude Mythos model. On the Claude API and Claude Models on Google Cloud (Google managed), Claude Opus 5.5 and Claude Sonnet 5.5 read Claude Haiku 5.5’s blocks and no other model does. Strip prior `thinking` and `redacted_thinking` blocks yourself only to save input tokens on models that ignore rather than drop them, and never when redeeming a [fallback credit](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/fallback-credit), which requires the body unchanged.
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11041104## Preserved thinking
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11111111Thinking 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 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.
1113The prefix check runs on Claude 5.1 and later models. 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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12901290#### [Messages API](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/working-with-messages)
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12921292* Availability: On by default
1293* Usage: Turn it off with `thinking: {"type": "disabled"}`. Where it is off by default, set `thinking` to turn it on.
1293* Usage: `thinking: {"type": "disabled"}` turns it off on models that accept that value. Where it is off by default, set `thinking` to turn it on.
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12951295| Status | Cloud platforms |
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