You'll noticeTier: how much it should matter to you
2Useful: my rating, 1 to 5
1Signal: worth watching, 1 to 5
ElsewhereArea: what it touches
ImprovementsKind: in v2.1.323,
ImprovementsSection of the release
What
Effort is how much work Claude puts into a reply. Claude Code now compares the effort level you asked for with the one actually in use. When the CLAUDE_CODE_EFFORT_LEVEL environment variable is overriding your request, it produces a message saying the level is set by CLAUDE_CODE_EFFORT_LEVEL. An environment variable is a setting given to Claude Code from outside it, usually in your shell. Before, this override happened silently.
Working out the effort level now also normalizes the model name first.
Why
If you change the effort level while CLAUDE_CODE_EFFORT_LEVEL is set, Claude Code now tells you why nothing changed. Unset the variable to let your own choice take effect.
