clawdbot/docs/thinking.md

summary, read_when

summary	read_when
Directive syntax for /think levels and how they affect model reasoning	Adjusting thinking level parsing or defaults

Thinking Levels (/think directives)

What it does

• Inline directive in any inbound body: /t <level>, /think:<level>, or /thinking <level>.
• Levels (aliases): off | minimal | low | medium | high
  • minimal → “think”
  • low → “think hard”
  • medium → “think harder”
  • high → “ultrathink” (max budget)
  • highest, max map to high.

Resolution order

1. Inline directive on the message (applies only to that message).
2. Session override (set by sending a directive-only message).
3. Global default (agent.thinkingDefault in config).
4. Fallback: low for reasoning-capable models; off otherwise.

Setting a session default

• Send a message that is only the directive (whitespace allowed), e.g. /think:medium or /t high.
• That sticks for the current session (per-sender by default); cleared by /think:off or session idle reset.
• Confirmation reply is sent (Thinking level set to high. / Thinking disabled.). If the level is invalid (e.g. /thinking big), the command is rejected with a hint and the session state is left unchanged.

Application by agent

• Embedded Pi: the resolved level is passed to the in-process Pi agent runtime.

Verbose directives (/verbose or /v)

• Levels: on|full or off (default).
• Directive-only message toggles session verbose and replies Verbose logging enabled. / Verbose logging disabled.; invalid levels return a hint without changing state.
• Inline directive affects only that message; session/global defaults apply otherwise.
• When verbose is on, agents that emit structured tool results (Pi, other JSON agents) send each tool result back as its own metadata-only message, prefixed with <emoji> <tool-name>: <arg> when available (path/command); the tool output itself is not forwarded. These tool summaries are sent as soon as each tool finishes (separate bubbles), not as streaming deltas. If you toggle /verbose on|off while a run is in-flight, subsequent tool bubbles honor the new setting.

Elevated directives (/elevated or /elev)

• Levels: on or off (default).
• Directive-only message toggles session elevated mode and replies Elevated mode enabled. / Elevated mode disabled..
• If elevated access is disabled or the sender is not on the approved allowlist, the directive replies elevated is not available right now. and does not change session state.

Heartbeats

• Heartbeat probe body is HEARTBEAT. Inline directives in a heartbeat message apply as usual (but avoid changing session defaults from heartbeats).

Web chat UI

• The web chat thinking selector mirrors the session's stored level from the inbound session store/config when the page loads.
• Picking another level applies only to the next message (thinkingOnce); after sending, the selector snaps back to the stored session level.
• To change the session default, send a /think:<level> directive (as before); the selector will reflect it after the next reload.