Usage data for /effort now records the previous level and route

When you run /effort, the usage data Claude Code sends now also records the level you changed from and the route taken

Under the hood Internal Changes

JSON All of v2.1.290

Under the hoodTier: how much it should matter to you

1Useful: my rating, 1 to 5

1Signal: worth watching, 1 to 5

TelemetryArea: what it touches

Internal ChangesKind: in v2.1.290, 05 Oct 26

Internal ChangesSection of the release

Unclear What the recorded route describes is not stated.

What

/effort sets how hard the model works on its replies. When you run it, the usage data Claude Code sends now records two more things: the effort level you are changing from, and the route the command took. Before, it recorded only the new level and whether the session was remote.

Why

This affects usage data only. The command itself behaves as before.

How sure we are

Something disagreesSomething we can check disagrees with this entry, or the writer said they could not settle it.

The writer flagged doubtWhat the recorded route describes is not stated.

Anthropic's release notes agreeChanged /model, /effort and /rename sent from claude agents to a busy background session to apply right away, without a confirmation…

See this entry in the whole of v2.1.290 →

The build it came inv2.1.290

5 Oct 2026 · 548 entries, this one is #469.

Use it now36
You'll notice386
Nothing to try yet8
Under the hood118

Either side of it

v2.1.289Older
v2.1.291Newer

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Names in this entry

slash/effort
Set the effort level: low to xhigh, max, ultracode, or auto; status prints it. max and ultracode are session-only; the ultracode key persists. Run it while Claude is responding and, once you confirm the cache warning, if Claude Code shows one, Claude Code applies the new level to the next request in that turn. Before v2.1.242, Claude Code decided from a feature flag it fetched from Anthropic whether to run the command mid-turn or queue it until the turn finished, and always queued it in a session that doesn't fetch feature flags, such as on a third-party provider. Works in -p

Anthropic's note

Upstream's own release notes for v2.1.290 name something this entry names, so the two are probably about the same change. Probably: the pairing is made on a shared name rather than on the words around it.

Changed /model, /effort and /rename sent from claude agents to a busy background session to apply right away, without a confirmation, instead of when the turn ends

Is this right?