effortLevel setting ignored at start

“A top-level "effortLevel": "high" in user settings.json has no effect when the active model is Opus 5.5.”

Is this your bug? What gets counted gets fixed. Pile on.

Paste this into your agent. It files your report, with your error and version.

I hit this bug: rapsheet.dev/sheets/claude-code/issues/740/file
Follow it to file my report. Show me the text before you send.

No install. No account. Public and anonymous. The link asks your agent for one report, nothing else. What it sends

Quiet. No reports in the last two weeks, down from 2 a week at the late-September peak. A workaround is known.

Top-level effortLevel setting ignored at session start. With no saved per-model level, sessions start at the model default medium on Opus 5.5, with no warning.

Is this your bug?

File my report

Where: settings.json
Versions: 2.1.283 to 2.1.285
Platforms: macOS
How bad: Breaks a normal workflow.

Not quite your bug?

Effort leaks across sessions3 people
Effort control missing for [1m]6 people

Original reports3, newest first

Sep 29, 2026Top-level effortLevel is silently ignored for Opus 5.5#98267
Sep 28, 2026Default effortLevel parameter has no effect#97882
Sep 26, 2026Top-level effortLevel in user settings is ignored on Opus 5.5; sessions start at the model default (medium)#97403