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