What
- Claude Code used to force newly launched models (like a brand-new Opus or Fable release) to run at a reduced "launch effort" level for a period after release, controlled by settings such as
unpinOpus47LaunchEffort,unpinOpus48LaunchEffort, andunpinFable5LaunchEffort. - A new mechanism now walks the list of newly-launched models (
claude-opus-4-7,claude-opus-4-8,claude-fable-5, and whateverANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_FABLE_MODELresolves to) and keeps each pinned to the launch effort level unless the matching unpin setting is turned on. - For a genuinely first-ever install of this build (no
firstStartVersionrecorded yet), the whole pin list is skipped, so brand-new installs start unpinned. - The three unpin settings were removed from the default client config store, and the model-recency list used for feature gating now includes claude-opus-4-6, claude-opus-4-7, claude-opus-4-8, and claude-sonnet-4-6.
Why
This keeps existing installs behaving the same (still pinned to a conservative effort level for brand-new models) while letting fresh installs and future models participate in feature gating and default effort without extra config.
ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_FABLE_MODEL
Model configuration modified, high confidence
* Claude Code must recognize the current model as a fallback source. Fable 5.1 and Fable 5 are recognized when the model ID contains `claude-fable-5`, matches the value of `ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_FABLE_MODEL`, or is mapped with [`modelOverrides…see the edit
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Anthropic's documentation agrees
ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_FABLE_MODEL on Model configuration