diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 179c404cb..7e2b5fae3 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 - Gateway: add Tailscale binary discovery, custom bind mode, and probe auth retry for password changes. (#740 — thanks @jeffersonwarrior)
 - Agents: add compaction mode config with optional safeguard summarization for long histories. (#700 — thanks @thewilloftheshadow)
 - Tools: add tool profiles plus group shorthands for tool policy allow/deny (global, per-agent, sandbox).
+- Thinking: allow xhigh for GPT-5.2 + Codex models and downgrade on unsupported switches. (#444 — thanks @grp06)
 
 ### Fixes
 - Gateway: honor `CLAWDBOT_LAUNCHD_LABEL` / `CLAWDBOT_SYSTEMD_UNIT` overrides when checking or restarting the daemon.
diff --git a/src/agents/model-selection.ts b/src/agents/model-selection.ts
index d98260583..c1a5b02cc 100644
--- a/src/agents/model-selection.ts
+++ b/src/agents/model-selection.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,13 @@ export type ModelRef = {
   model: string;
 };
 
-export type ThinkLevel = "off" | "minimal" | "low" | "medium" | "high";
+export type ThinkLevel =
+  | "off"
+  | "minimal"
+  | "low"
+  | "medium"
+  | "high"
+  | "xhigh";
 
 export type ModelAliasIndex = {
   byAlias: Map<string, { alias: string; ref: ModelRef }>;
diff --git a/src/auto-reply/reply.directive.test.ts b/src/auto-reply/reply.directive.test.ts
index 27d1d335b..fc499fd02 100644
--- a/src/auto-reply/reply.directive.test.ts
+++ b/src/auto-reply/reply.directive.test.ts
@@ -81,9 +81,11 @@ describe("directive behavior", () => {
         },
         {},
         {
-          agent: {
-            model: "openai-codex/gpt-5.2-codex",
-            workspace: path.join(home, "clawd"),
+          agents: {
+            defaults: {
+              model: "openai-codex/gpt-5.2-codex",
+              workspace: path.join(home, "clawd"),
+            },
           },
           whatsapp: { allowFrom: ["*"] },
           session: { store: storePath },
@@ -109,9 +111,11 @@ describe("directive behavior", () => {
         },
         {},
         {
-          agent: {
-            model: "openai/gpt-5.2",
-            workspace: path.join(home, "clawd"),
+          agents: {
+            defaults: {
+              model: "openai/gpt-5.2",
+              workspace: path.join(home, "clawd"),
+            },
           },
           whatsapp: { allowFrom: ["*"] },
           session: { store: storePath },
@@ -137,9 +141,11 @@ describe("directive behavior", () => {
         },
         {},
         {
-          agent: {
-            model: "openai/gpt-4.1-mini",
-            workspace: path.join(home, "clawd"),
+          agents: {
+            defaults: {
+              model: "openai/gpt-4.1-mini",
+              workspace: path.join(home, "clawd"),
+            },
           },
           whatsapp: { allowFrom: ["*"] },
           session: { store: storePath },
diff --git a/src/auto-reply/reply.ts b/src/auto-reply/reply.ts
index a5b67d8b8..94403c00d 100644
--- a/src/auto-reply/reply.ts
+++ b/src/auto-reply/reply.ts
@@ -29,7 +29,10 @@ import {
   type ClawdbotConfig,
   loadConfig,
 } from "../config/config.js";
-import { resolveSessionFilePath } from "../config/sessions.js";
+import {
+  resolveSessionFilePath,
+  saveSessionStore,
+} from "../config/sessions.js";
 import { logVerbose } from "../globals.js";
 import { clearCommandLane, getQueueSize } from "../process/command-queue.js";
 import { getProviderDock } from "../providers/dock.js";
diff --git a/src/auto-reply/reply/directive-handling.ts b/src/auto-reply/reply/directive-handling.ts
index 034215277..1ae1b0831 100644
--- a/src/auto-reply/reply/directive-handling.ts
+++ b/src/auto-reply/reply/directive-handling.ts
@@ -1227,8 +1227,8 @@ export async function handleDirectiveOnly(params: {
 
   const nextThinkLevel = directives.hasThinkDirective
     ? directives.thinkLevel
-    : (sessionEntry?.thinkingLevel as ThinkLevel | undefined) ??
-      currentThinkLevel;
+    : ((sessionEntry?.thinkingLevel as ThinkLevel | undefined) ??
+      currentThinkLevel);
   const shouldDowngradeXHigh =
     !directives.hasThinkDirective &&
     nextThinkLevel === "xhigh" &&
diff --git a/src/auto-reply/thinking.ts b/src/auto-reply/thinking.ts
index 92c072f22..7af93dd40 100644
--- a/src/auto-reply/thinking.ts
+++ b/src/auto-reply/thinking.ts
@@ -89,11 +89,11 @@ export function formatThinkingLevels(
 }
 
 export function formatXHighModelHint(): string {
-  if (XHIGH_MODEL_REFS.length === 1) return XHIGH_MODEL_REFS[0];
-  if (XHIGH_MODEL_REFS.length === 2) {
-    return `${XHIGH_MODEL_REFS[0]} or ${XHIGH_MODEL_REFS[1]}`;
-  }
-  return `${XHIGH_MODEL_REFS.slice(0, -1).join(", ")} or ${XHIGH_MODEL_REFS[XHIGH_MODEL_REFS.length - 1]}`;
+  const refs = [...XHIGH_MODEL_REFS] as string[];
+  if (refs.length === 0) return "unknown model";
+  if (refs.length === 1) return refs[0];
+  if (refs.length === 2) return `${refs[0]} or ${refs[1]}`;
+  return `${refs.slice(0, -1).join(", ")} or ${refs[refs.length - 1]}`;
 }
 
 // Normalize verbose flags used to toggle agent verbosity.