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Sweep 22 Sep 2026 · 17:19Z Build v2.1.280 501 read Stable v2.1.267 Latest v2.1.280 Next v2.1.280 Feeds RSS JSON llms.txt Unofficial
Claude Code v2.1.277 ·

update_settings can now validate and target userSettings.effortLevel

The update_settings tool now accepts more setting sources, including a validated effortLevel under userSettings

TierUnder the hoodhow much it should matter to you
Useful3my rating, 1 to 5
Signal3worth watching, 1 to 5
AreaSettingswhat it touches
KindInternal Changesin v2.1.277,
Group of 2 Under the hood No documentation found

The update_settings tool now accepts more setting sources, including a validated effortLevel under userSettings

What

The update_settings tool previously only allowed writing to localSettings. It now accepts other recognized setting sources as well, each with its own set of allowed keys.

When the source is userSettings and the key being set is effortLevel, the tool now validates that the value is one of the known, valid effort levels. If it isn't, the call fails with a new dedicated error message that lists the valid effort levels.

Why

This prevents update_settings from silently accepting an invalid effort level and gives a clear, specific error message pointing to the valid options instead of a generic failure.

Read from
Names in the bundleuserSettings.effortLevel
How sure we are
One source agreesOne thing we can check says the same as this entry.
Anthropic's release notes agree[VSCode] Fixed the effort slider's level not persisting into later sessions on a model that already had a level saved with /effort

See this entry in the whole of v2.1.277 →

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