How does the effort parameter differ between Claude Sonnet 5 and Claude Sonnet 4.6?

Claude Sonnet 5 introduces a full five-level effort scale, low through max, including a new xhigh level added between high and max that didn't exist as an option on Sonnet 4.6's more limited effort framework.

On Sonnet 5, effort now works together with adaptive thinking to determine reasoning depth, whereas on Sonnet 4.6 the old distinction was closer to extended thinking on with a fixed budget versus thinking off entirely, without an integrated effort dial spanning both dimensions in the same way.

This means teams tuning Sonnet 4.6 workloads around explicit thinking budgets need to re-map that tuning onto the new effort scale rather than assuming a numeric budget_tokens value translates directly to an equivalent effort level.

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