effort-cycle

Per-agent effort levels for Claude Code: step them from the keyboard, see them at a glance.

• Ctrl+↑ and Ctrl+↓ step the level: low, medium, high, xhigh, max.
• Per agent. The keys change the agent in view. Every other agent keeps its level.
• A meter in the footer, colored cool to hot: Opus 5.5 ▰▰▰▱▱ high.
• Clickable ‹ › appear around the meter when you point at it.
• The tasks list shows each subagent's model and level in its row.
• /config toggles choose which levels the keys step through.

Install

/plugin marketplace add Anerco/plugins
/plugin install effort-cycle@anerco

There is nothing to bind: the keys work right away. The tasks list's rows need python3 on your PATH (on macOS, from xcode-select --install or Homebrew).

macOS: Ctrl+↑ and Ctrl+↓ are Mission Control's shortcuts by default. Use Option+↑ and Option+↓ instead, with your terminal set to send Option as Meta (Terminal.app: Use Option as Meta key; iTerm2: Left Option key set to Esc+; Ghostty: macos-option-as-alt = true).

Updates: in /plugin, choose Marketplaces → anerco → Enable auto-update. Or run claude plugin update effort-cycle@anerco and restart Claude Code.

Built and tested against Claude Code 2.1.291. effort-cycle is a mod (a plugin of function hooks), an early-access API that changes between releases.

Usage

| Control | What it does | | --- | --- | | Ctrl+↑ | One level up for the agent in view, stopping at max | | Ctrl+↓ | One level down, stopping at low | | ‹ and › in the footer | Point at the footer's label, then click ‹ to step down or › to step up | | /effort, Alt+P | Claude Code's own controls still work, and take over from the plugin's pick |

The agent in view is the main thread, or the subagent whose transcript you opened from the tasks list. A pick lasts for the session. The footer shows the agent's model and level, led by its type in a subagent's transcript:

Opus 5.5   ▰▰▰▱▱ high                 main thread
Opus 5.5 ‹ ▰▰▰▱▱ high   ›             pointer on the label
Explore · Opus 5.5   ▰▰▱▱▱ medium     a subagent's transcript

The colors follow your theme, from gray at low to red at max. At max the model's name turns red too, and a light sweeps the bar while Claude works. Each Agent call in the transcript gets a line with its agent's level.

Levels in the tasks list

Each subagent's row in the tasks list under the prompt shows its model and level, in the footer's colors:

◯ Fix the parser · Opus 5.5 ▰▰▰▱▱ high · Reading the failing test · 53m 11s · ↓ 499.8k tokens
◯ Find the config · Sonnet 5.5 ▰▰▱▱▱ medium · Searching settings · 2m 4s · ↓ 31.2k tokens

The rows take no clicks; open a subagent's transcript to step it. Claude Code redraws them every five seconds, or in about 0.4 s with Tasks list rows: update at once on (Settings).

Where a level starts

The main thread starts at the level Claude Code gives its model: CLAUDE_CODE_EFFORT_LEVEL if it is set, else a level your settings save for the model (as /effort and Alt+P save one), else the model's default: medium on Opus 5.5 and Sonnet 5.5, xhigh on Opus 4.7, high on the rest.

A subagent starts at its definition's effort, else the main thread's level. Its meter is empty (—) until its first model request says which, a moment after it starts; a press before then shows wait.

Settings

The plugin adds these toggles to /config:

| Toggle | Default | What it does | | --- | --- | --- | | Effort keys: include low | on | The keys and ‹ › step through low | | Effort keys: include medium | on | … through medium | | Effort keys: include high | on | … through high | | Effort keys: include xhigh | on | … through xhigh | | Effort keys: include max | on | … through max | | Tasks list rows: update at once | off | Rows follow a change in about 0.4 s, not up to 5 s |

A level that is off is skipped for every model. Update at once narrows the terminal by one column and back on each change, so the right edge flickers briefly; it needs python3 (details). The values are saved in ~/.claude/settings.json under pluginConfigs.

Known issues

• The spinner can show a different level from the footer (#1). The footer shows the level requests go out with.
• A pick is lost on restart. A plugin cannot write settings, so it cannot save the level the way /effort and Alt+P do.
• Before the first request, the footer works the level out. An organization's default, or one set on Anthropic's side, can differ. From the first request the footer follows Claude Code; a pick made before it stands.
• A subagent shows — until its first model request. One started before the plugin loaded shows no model either, until its next request.
• ‹ › need mouse events, as in Claude Code's fullscreen view. In tmux, add set -g mouse on. Without them, use the keys.
• Ctrl+↑ and Ctrl+↓ are borrowed from the diff panel. While /diff lists more than eight files they scroll it instead; close it to step again. Rebinding app:diffFileListUp and app:diffFileListDown moves them too.
• On macOS, Ctrl+↑ and Ctrl+↓ belong to Mission Control unless you turn them off in System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts → Mission Control. Option+↑ and Option+↓ work too (Install).
• The tasks list's levels need python3. A subagentStatusLine in your own settings replaces the plugin's. On Windows they show only where Claude Code runs commands through Git Bash.
• Ultracode is not a step. It is a separate switch the plugin API cannot reach.

How it works

See docs/how-it-works.md for what the plugin hooks, the tasks list's row files, Remote Control and development.

Privacy

No telemetry, no network requests. effort-cycle reads your settings, CLAUDE_CODE_EFFORT_LEVEL and the session's model and agents, and keeps levels in the session. For the tasks list it writes subagent levels under ~/.claude/subagent-rows/sessions/ (deleted after a week) and sets one variable, EFFORT_CYCLE_ROWS.

License

MIT