[DOCS] Agent teams docs omit teammate inheritance of the leader's `--effort` level

Open 💬 0 comments Opened Jun 22, 2026 by coygeek

Documentation Type

Missing documentation (feature not documented)

Documentation Location

https://code.claude.com/docs/en/agent-teams

Section/Topic

"Specify teammates and models" and "Limitations"

Current Documentation

The Agent Teams page documents model behavior:

"Teammates don't inherit the lead's /model selection by default."

It also documents permission inheritance:

"Teammates start with the lead's permission settings."

The page does not describe how a leader's /effort or --effort level applies to teammates spawned through tmux or pane backends.

What's Wrong or Missing?

Claude Code v2.1.186 fixed agent teams so teammates spawned via tmux or pane backends inherit the leader's --effort level.

The docs mention model and permission inheritance, but not effort inheritance. That leaves users without guidance on whether teammate reasoning effort follows the leader, follows defaults, or needs separate configuration.

Suggested Improvement

Add a short note to the teammate configuration section:

Teammates inherit the leader's current effort level, including a value set with --effort or /effort. To change the effort for subsequent teammate work, change the leader's effort level before spawning the teammate.

If there are exceptions for specific backends or custom agents, list them in the same note.

Impact

Medium - Makes feature difficult to understand

Additional Context

Affected Pages:

| Page | Context |
|------|---------|
| https://code.claude.com/docs/en/agent-teams | Teammate model and permission inheritance |
| https://code.claude.com/docs/en/model-config | Effort level reference |

Total scope: 2 pages affected

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