[Feature] Persist ultracode/max effort as a persistent default for new sessions (currently session-only, silently resets to xhigh)

What I'm requesting

A supported, persistent way to make new sessions start at ultracode (or max) effort by default - one that survives app restarts and model switches.

Today effortLevel in settings.json only accepts up to xhigh. max and ultracode are session-only, so there is currently no way to make "always start at full capability" stick. Users who rely on Ultracode must re-apply it manually in every new session.

Current behavior (tested on the desktop app, Windows 11 ARM64, app 0.14.5)

• settings.json with effortLevel: "xhigh" persists correctly across restarts. Good.
• max / ultracode cannot be written to settings.json (documented as session-only).
• The desktop app stores the UI effort state in claude_desktop_config.json -> preferences.epitaxyPrefs.ccd-effort-level.
• I manually set ccd-effort-level to "ultracode", then force-killed the app (Stop-Process -Force, so no graceful shutdown ran) and relaunched it.
• On restart, the value had been reset to "xhigh".
• Because it was reset even though the app was force-killed, the app appears to normalize ccd-effort-level to the settings effortLevel (xhigh) at startup, discarding any ultracode/max value.

Net effect

Every app restart or model switch silently drops the session back to xhigh, and the previously selected Ultracode is lost. The user must re-run /effort ultracode in each new session - and because the reset is silent, they often do not notice they have lost the dynamic-Workflow capability.

Proposed

Provide a persisted default for the top effort tiers, e.g.:

• accept "effortLevel": "max" in settings.json, and/or
• a dedicated "ultracode": true setting,

honored on every new session, surviving restarts and model switches.

Why it matters

Manually re-applying the effort each session is easy to forget, and the silent reset means users lose capability without realizing it. A persistent default would make "start every session at full capability" reliable.

Related

Similar pain points, but those are general "effort resets" bug reports - this request is specifically about persisting the top tiers (max/ultracode) as a default:

• #11531
• #12873
• #11522