Claude Opus 5.5 Has 5 Effort Levels — Here's When to Use Each
CodeByPoonam · x · 2026-09-27
Claude Opus 5.5 offers 5 effort levels, but most people only use one. Effort controls how hard Claude thinks per request. The author's breakdown:
- Low: clear-plan mechanical work like renames or applying a known pattern across files
- Medium: the default starting point for well-scoped daily tasks
- High: when medium stalls — more thinking per turn catches what medium misses
- Extra high: when high still isn't enough (truncated in the post)
The post ends with a promo for the author's AI Toast newsletter.
Related event: How to Use Claude's Five Effort Levels(2 posts)→
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