A new max-effort mode sends an effort parameter to the API and shows a status-line reminder (with /effort to change it) when active
What
- A new "max effort" mode was added: a helper decides when to force maximum effort, gated by a reminder-enabled check before it's applied.
- A status-line reminder ("Max effort · … · /effort to change") is shown when effort is set to max; whether it appears is controlled by the
CLAUDE_CODE_MAX_EFFORT_REMINDERenvironment variable, falling back to a remote flag (tengu_proud_clover, off by default unless enabled server-side). - The VS Code extension's feature-gate table gained the corresponding max-effort reminder gate, wired from
maxEffortReminderEnabled. - The reminder is shown in a warning color rather than a subtle one when the environment variable or flag is set.
- Underneath, the request-building code for side-queries now accepts an
effortoption that becomesoutput_config.efforton the API call; if a model rejects it, Claude Code remembers the model doesn't support it and retries without the field, logging a telemetry event.
Why
This lets you run Claude Code at maximum effort and know at a glance when that mode is active, via /effort to change it, while the underlying request logic gracefully falls back for models that don't support the effort parameter.
tengu_proud_clover Not enough to sayNothing here resolved what this flag was doing on this version, so nothing here should be read as on or off.
This account: no value returned · anonymous baseline: no value returned · compiled default in v2.1.280: off
These values were read against a different version of Claude Code, so treat them as the nearest reading available instead of one taken on this release.
Read once, for one account on one subscription tier, against v2.1.280. It isn't a statement about your account. What a flag value here can and cannot tell you
Whether the tengu_proud_clover gate controls this feature, and whether it's switched on, is unread and not stated by the finding.
New in this build: tengu_proud_clover