DictionaryToken Economics
Effort
A dial that sets how hard the AI works on a task, trading thoroughness for speed and cost.
Definition
An API setting (output_config.effort) that controls how thoroughly a model works on a request. The levels low, medium, high, xhigh, and max trade thoroughness for tokens. The default is high, except medium on Claude Opus 5.5 and Haiku 5.5.
Example
output_config: {effort: "low"} for a quick file lookup; "xhigh" for a tricky refactor. Claude Opus 5.5 defaults to medium.