clawdbot/docs/thinking.md

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 (inbound.reply.thinkingDefault in config).
4. Fallback: off.

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.

Application by agent

• Pi/Tau: injects --thinking <level> (skipped for off).
• Claude & other text agents: appends the cue word to the prompt text as above.

Heartbeats

• Heartbeat probe body is HEARTBEAT /think:high, so it always asks for max thinking on the probe. Inline directive wins; session/global defaults are used only when no directive is present.