Opus 4.8 not selectable in CLI `/model` despite being available on account

Seeing the same thing.

MacOS

claude --version --verbose

2.1.156 (Claude Code) Commit: de3d672b5e8c35ae78d81c9dd83844d334ec63af

/model claude-opus-4-8

Set model to Opus 4

Same here, I cannot access it from the CLI, but it's selectable in the desktop app

<img width="390" height="375" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/572bae72-16e9-4b1c-81e4-589594abc35e" />

Same here.

<img width="1136" height="762" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/c73e16fd-1799-4ff5-af7c-2c296c3207de" />

/model claude-opus-4-8 sets the model to custom model with 200k context window.

<img width="1136" height="762" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/5c7eb616-e5dc-4409-b811-ff0582ec1755" />

Update

I use mise to manage binary versions. There were two files specifying claude@2.1.153 and claude@2.1.156. Apperently, mise picked the .toml file which specified the older version.

Now with claude being at 2.1.156 I can see the 1M Opus 4.8 model.

<img width="1136" height="762" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/a296dd2e-eddf-4462-a65f-a56a363214d9" />

For me it was brew install --cask claude-code@latest

Ran claude update and it works for me in v2.1.157

I've got the CLI installed through brew and mine is at v2.1.148 it doesn't show there's any available update :\
I thought the available models were supposed to come in dynamically (I've seen where it varies between personal vs corporate/team accounts) 🤔

Edit: I guess I'll swap my cask over even though I prefer to be on the slower release channel, but you can't have both 🔥

Auto upgrade kicked in and it's working for me now.

If still struggling try running: /doctor from the CLI

Once upgraded I've noticed the 'ultracode' feature in /effort - time to give that a spin.

Good luck.

Curious what effort level others are using. I run Codex on xhigh fast and have been really happy with the results. With Claude Code 4.7, though, I haven't found an effort level that consistently works well for everyday coding, hoping that change is here in 4.8.

I've got the CLI installed through brew and mine is at v2.1.148 it doesn't show there's any available update :\ I thought the available models were supposed to come in dynamically (I've seen where it varies between personal vs corporate/team accounts) 🤔 Edit: I guess I'll swap my cask over even though I prefer to be on the slower release channel, but you can't have both 🔥

@ctsstc Did you tried doing brew upgrade claude-code@latest?
https://code.claude.com/docs/en/setup#configure-release-channel

claude --update worked for me. It didn't show an available update, but it just worked right after that when i launched claude code from cli.

This should help <br/>
<img width="548" height="290" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/812c2924-01cc-42dc-8800-8c355f6b7673" />

Interesting though that the new model is not available in the stable channel from the moment of the announcement. I don't want to live on the edge of claude-code updates, but do want to have the latest big model available.

💭 I also noticed that setting /model claude-opus-4-8 provides a 200k context window only - not the 1M option.

TLDR: if you are using homebrew you need to switch to the "latest" channel cask brew install --cask claude-code@latest

Long version: I installed Claude Code using homebrew brew install --cask claude-code and according to Claude Code docs: _"Homebrew offers two casks. claude-code tracks the stable release channel, which is typically about a week behind and skips releases with major regressions. claude-code@latest tracks the latest channel and receives new versions as soon as they ship."_

Turns out the claude-code cask (stable release channel) was on v 2.1.150 (at the time of writing) however Opus 4.8 is available from v.2.1.154 onwards. What worked for me was to uninstall the "stable" channel cask and install the "latest" channel one using the following:

brew uninstall --cask claude-code
brew install --cask claude-code@latest

<img width="1335" height="266" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/a5721c7c-cf38-4399-a3dd-a59121981a45" />

I was able to resolve it by unlinking/uninstalling claude from brew and switched to local. This is my preference anyhow.

edit: what @dssalaza said.

I had issues updating in terminal but running ``brew uninstall --cask claude-code && brew install --cask claude-code@latest`` worked for me ✅

I had issues updating in terminal but running brew uninstall --cask claude-code && brew install --cask claude-code@latest worked for me ✅

This worked for me.

But if I want to use the stable channel, does that mean I’m cut off from new models?
That’s not fair!

Even 2.1.167 did not show it and my autoUpdateChannel is latest. So i had to force it in the json tot persist it.

Just adding my experience...

• noticed a sudden, unexplained performance drop in Opus 4.7 a few days before Opus 4.8 was announced
• this isn't subtle. Opus 4.7 literally forgets context provided in the first prompt you sent immediately, which will cause you to prompt it to fix it, causing another cycle and token usage
• this is using 4.7 with 1M context window and on xhigh effort
• the next day after the announcement, ran brew upgrade claude-code and restarted to see it not available in /model as experienced here
• ran with the assumption they had released the model but _not for Claude Code yet_
• this morning, read a document/article that explains a 3x increased cost when using 4.7, an older model, compared to 4.8. Given my experience, thought to finally check why I couldn't upgrade the model used and found this thread
• stable has now been pinned to 2.1.153, the exact version before the new model is made available, for > 1 week.

Given...

1. sudden degradation in performance meaning longer running conversations and additional prompts
2. the [official public announcement

](https://www.anthropic.com/news/claude-opus-4-8)

• not mentioning this model is experimental/"not stable"
• including Fast Mode as an explicit new feature in Claude Code but not the fact that 4.7 costs more for the same feature AND isn't in the stable release

1. package managers being habitually used by engineers (for instance, I assumed claude-code was available via. brew and didn't check the official docs + read about the "auto-upgrade" diff and stable vs latest differences)
2. Threads like this showing clear confusion for users that are completely unaddressed. How many users haven't noticed they're on Opus 4.7 still?
3. Articles/docs all over the place about price increases for using new features on older models with presumably worse performance

...it's hard to not be cynical.\
"We will officially announce new versions of our frontier mode. But it's not "stable" so package managers won't make it available yet, unless you use @latest. But it IS stable enough to autoupgrade in the official Claude Code apps/website, and Claude for general, non-technical users."

It'd be nice to get some sort of official statement about this tbh.

Claude it self don't know that there 4.8 exist.

latest version of claude cli v2.1.153

<img width="1678" height="1224" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/69364782-0a5d-4020-9dfe-39073cb89106" />/

<img width="1651" height="652" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/7702b7d0-d576-47c5-9fe5-168fbb6f846b" />

help to resolve problem this

brew uninstall --cask claude-code
brew install --cask claude-code@latest

For me it was enough to clear ~\.claude

Still Opus 4.8 is not in the stable channel. What a joke

Update: v2.1.169 was just released on claude-code cask

For me it was brew install --cask claude-code@latest

For me it was
brew uninstall --cask claude-code && brew install --cask claude-code@latest

Also on v2.1.197 (latest), Enterprise plan, macOS.

/model picker shows no Opus at all, but /model claude-opus-4-8 works and /status confirms it. The claude.ai web app on the same account lists Opus 4.8 normally, so this is a picker-listing issue, not entitlement.

<img width="896" height="172" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/7a30e09c-da94-4db8-bf93-a6870559968f" />