[BUG] Web/Cowork shows wrong effort level ("High") instead of configured "xhigh"

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• [x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

Summary
A Claude Code session configured to effort "xhigh" in the VS Code extension is
displayed as "High" when the same session is viewed remotely via cowork / the web
app (claude.ai/code). The underlying session and config are the same; only the
remote surface renders the wrong effort label. Persists after a hard reload, so it
is not a stale cache.

Environment

• Claude Code VS Code extension, v1.20186.0
• Model: Opus 4.8 (also seen with Fable)
• Remote view: cowork / claude.ai/code (web)

Config (ground truth)

• ~/.claude/settings.json -> "effortLevel": "xhigh"
• CLAUDE_CODE_EFFORT_LEVEL: unset
• project .claude/settings.json + settings.local.json: no effort key

Same session, three surfaces:

• settings.json (truth): xhigh
• VS Code panel: xhigh / Ultracode
• cowork / web: High <-- wrong

Steps to reproduce

1. In the VS Code extension, set the session effort to xhigh (persisted to

~/.claude/settings.json).

1. Open the same session remotely in cowork or claude.ai/code.
2. Look at the effort indicator (footer, bottom right).

Expected: remote shows xhigh (matching config).
Actual: remote shows High. Persists after a hard reload of the web page.

Notes

• Reproduced with both an Opus 4.8 and a Fable session.
• Likely the web/cowork footer only knows the old scale (low/medium/high) and

falls back to "High" for xhigh (and probably max), instead of showing the actual
level.

• Open question for the team: does the remote surface merely DISPLAY the wrong

level, or does the remote session actually RUN at High? The two have different
cost/behaviour implications and I could not verify this from the user side.

What Should Happen?

The remote sessions (Claude Cowork & Web) should show the effort level actually set in Claude Code (VS-Code environment)

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

1. In the VS Code extension, set the session effort to xhigh

(persists to ~/.claude/settings.json as "effortLevel": "xhigh").

1. Open the same session remotely in cowork or claude.ai/code (web).
2. Look at the effort indicator in the footer (bottom right).
3. It shows "High", not "xhigh". Hard-reloading the web page does not fix it.

Config at the time (ground truth), same session:

• ~/.claude/settings.json -> "effortLevel": "xhigh"
• CLAUDE_CODE_EFFORT_LEVEL: unset
• project settings / settings.local.json: no effort key

Same session, three surfaces:

• settings.json (truth): xhigh
• VS Code panel: xhigh / Ultracode
• cowork / web: High <-- wrong

Expected: remote shows xhigh, matching config.
Actual: remote shows High, persists after hard reload.

Environment: Claude Code VS Code extension v1.20186.0, model Opus 4.8
(also reproduced with Fable). Likely the web/cowork footer only knows the
old scale (low/medium/high) and falls back to "High" for xhigh (and probably
max), instead of showing the actual level.

Open question for the team: does the remote surface only DISPLAY the wrong
level, or does the remote session actually RUN at High? Different cost/behaviour
implications; I could not verify this from the user side.

Claude Model

Opus

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

Claude Code CLI: 2.1.205

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

VS Code integrated terminal

Additional Information

_No response_